Over at Apocalypse Cometh, Bill Powell makes a case for not voting.
The paragraph that I found most intersting:
"You see, if less than 50 percent of the population doesn’t turn out to
vote, it means the tipping point has been reached. It means that the
federal government has lost the consent of the majority of the American
population that is eligible to give their consent. It means the
government has lost its legitimacy, no longer do a majority of
the population feel that there is any reason to support with their
vote a government that they think is broken, corrupt and only out to
protect its own interests.
And when they feel that it’s useless to support the government with
their vote, how long will it take for them to withdraw their support in
other ways?"
Intersting idea, however there have been instances were the US has seen less than 50% turnout for national elections. Once for the presidential election in '96 (49.1%) and every single off-cycle election since 1960. Given that is the case, excluding a massive voter turnout drop during a presidential year,I don't think the government will loose face. Besides far too many individuals have a 'stake' of some sort with the system as it is. Better to find a way to get the disaffected voters to vote for the same candidate/non candidate. Imagine what would happen if a pluraity of votes in the US went to Mickey Mouse or Tron or something like that.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781453.html
I'll be voting libertarian, mostly to see if that party can increase its strength for the future.
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