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Whats your stance on voting?
Topic Started: May 5 2011, 06:37 AM (833 Views)
Kharnivore2099
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Retroverdose

I have a lot of people asking me if im voting today, and like everytime im asked i tell them "no". With this, 70% of people will look at you like a madman, like they are insulted or like they think your an idiot. I get its important for some and thats fine, but i always thought voting was about choice, your "choice" to vote. So surely if you choose not to vote then thats fine too, no?

I find that a lot of the time voters will deem you worse than the people voting for the other candidate, which is ludicrous. "By not voting it means you cant complain" tends to be a common Statement. Surely, if your party wins you have no room to complain, you voted them in. If the opposite party wins then you have no reason to complain because you took part in the "game", and they won. If your not happy with it then dont take part or move away.

Anyways, what do you guys think? Even those of you that arent old enough yet, will you vote? Why will/wont you vote?

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FisHeaD
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Its the first time i'm able to be involved in an official vote so i probably will since the polling station is just down the road. I'm voting no to the A.V if I do.

@Kharni But its probably better to vote. What if a party wins thats policy really negatively affects you? Well, at the moment all parties seem to be doing that but we don't what the lesser known parties to take control.
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Jesusthe3dgame
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It's your right to vote or not to vote. But if you choose to not vote you choose to be silent to whatever consequences happen to you and your country as a result of not wanting to be a part of something that many people would kill/have died for the right to have....a choice...
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eSkilliam
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I've always voted, but only in presidential elections, and I've always approached this topic the same way. (And yes it feeds into what you were saying, but only because it's a logical truth.)

If you vote, then whether your candidate wins or not then you have a right to voice your opinions and complaints on the government and how it's operating under their regime.

If you don't vote, then you have made a choice not to be involved and have no right whatsoever to complain or be overly opinionated on anything that happens from the people in office during that term.

You have a right to be upset if the candidate you voted in is not living up to the standards of the office, and you have the "I told you so" right if your candidate got voted out. If you don't vote, you effectively waive those rights.

Nothing annoys me more than people that didn't vote saying that the people they didn't even care enough to try to vote in or out of office are doing a bad job.

In short, if you don't care, then don't care. If you care, care. But if you don't care, don't start caring all of a sudden down the road when it suddenly affects you. You made your choice. (this isn't directed at any particular person)

Those under the voting age are exempt from all of the above of course.
Edited by eSkilliam, May 5 2011, 07:18 AM.


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Jesusthe3dgame
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Exactly, well said!
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browland1
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I live in Canada and we just had a major federal election, so this is very topical for me. I have voted in every election since I turned 18 and I consider it both an excercising of my right to do so and I think it's it's a responsibility that people have. You live in a democracy and as such you should vote and make your voice heard on who runs the country. The problem with Canada is that there is a lot of voter apathy and roughly 40% of the population vote, while the rate of youths voting is in the horse latitutdes. I always vote and I think it's important for everyone to do so, since we always seem to elect people that are very unpopular and people who don't vote end up complaining the most. A lot of people think that their one meager vote won't count, but if everyone thought like that, we wouldn't progress.
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Andsy
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I'm indifferent to voting, seeing all major parties as slight variations on a theme, not enough different to warrant me actually voting for them.

I do however, get pretty riled when my friends, who are usually a rather cool bunch, start trying to push their opinions on others, even stooping down to the level of petty insults, calling others stupid for voting a certain way.

So, until I see a kickin' rad party, that actually piques my interest.... ABSTAIN.
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MuayThaiNinja
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I didn't vote unfortunately for the recent Canadian election. But i've voted plenty of times already. Thankfully, the candidate I would've voted won and won a majority, so I guess my vote wasn't really needed!

But I sincerely hope eventually that we can vote online. I realize there are security problems possibly with that, but you can do your income taxes and banking online just fine. I think it would make a huge difference to be able to vote online.
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bettybullshepard
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As usual George Carlin speaks the truth, and I agree with him 100 %.
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Mamonuth
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"I have solved this political dilemma in a very direct way: I don't vote. On Election Day, I stay home. I firmly believe that if you vote, you have no right to complain. Now, some people like to twist that around. They say, 'If you don't vote, you have no right to complain,' but where's the logic in that? If you vote, and you elect dishonest, incompetent politicians, and they get into office and screw everything up, you are responsible for what they have done. You voted them in. You caused the problem. You have no right to complain. I, on the other hand, who did not vote -- who did not even leave the house on Election Day -- am in no way responsible for that these politicians have done and have every right to complain about the mess that you created." - George Carlin

edit: Oh wow. People have already linked to Carlin :)
Edited by Mamonuth, May 5 2011, 10:07 AM.
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Scruffy
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well i voted today and said yes in the referendum, but i think on all ballot papers there should be an option such as none of the above or Abstain,

As well as this i believe it should be law such as it is in australia where people should be forced to vote if not there should be a small fine, except in extenuating circumstances such as illness etc.
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Kharnivore2099
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Retroverdose

Scruffy
May 5 2011, 01:24 PM
well i voted today and said yes in the referendum, but i think on all ballot papers there should be an option such as none of the above or Abstain,

As well as this i believe it should be law such as it is in australia where people should be forced to vote if not there should be a small fine, except in extenuating circumstances such as illness etc.
Why? surely if someone doesnt want to vote then they wont bother turning up. they dont need to be made to venture somewhere to tick a slip or be threatened with a fine if they dont. What does it achieve?
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J-Maestro
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I'll vote when the option of decapitation of all politicians is an option.

People who have a career of politicking are never out for the greater good by the time they get in to the position to make a difference.
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DizzyDial
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Andsy
May 5 2011, 09:28 AM
I'm indifferent to voting, seeing all major parties as slight variations on a theme, not enough different to warrant me actually voting for them.

I do however, get pretty riled when my friends, who are usually a rather cool bunch, start trying to push their opinions on others, even stooping down to the level of petty insults, calling others stupid for voting a certain way.

So, until I see a kickin' rad party, that actually piques my interest.... ABSTAIN.
I feel the same damn way.
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Scruffy
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Kharnivore2099
May 5 2011, 02:19 PM
Scruffy
May 5 2011, 01:24 PM
well i voted today and said yes in the referendum, but i think on all ballot papers there should be an option such as none of the above or Abstain,

As well as this i believe it should be law such as it is in australia where people should be forced to vote if not there should be a small fine, except in extenuating circumstances such as illness etc.
Why? surely if someone doesnt want to vote then they wont bother turning up. they dont need to be made to venture somewhere to tick a slip or be threatened with a fine if they dont. What does it achieve?
I honestly believe that it should be law to turn up at the polling station ( unless under certain circumstances such as illness etc), ok so they dont have to vote physically or they can abstain.

but I just feel that millions of people world wide has given up there lives and selves in one form or another to preserve democracy. it is more of a responsibility that everyone has for society.

Also it would ensure a larger voter turnout meaning you will actually get a clear reflection of the public wishes and views, rather than government's getting elected with only 40% of the vote, the amount of people i hear say yeah i like X party but don't bother to vote.

surely if we want a government that reflects the population and has a mandate to govern it needs to be around 80-90% turnout.

also it will change the way politicians will try and get votes no longer will they have to try and encourage people to come out to vote with snappy headlines and policies, and it can be more of a debate about the issues.
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Kharnivore2099
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Retroverdose

vote or be punished isn't exactly how i saw democracy.
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Scruffy
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Kharnivore2099
May 5 2011, 07:05 PM
vote or be punished isn't exactly how i saw democracy.
they dont have to vote they just have to turn up at the polling station
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Kharnivore2099
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Retroverdose

I dont see how that is better though. By not turning up then they are obvioiusly choosing to abstain, even if they did like the sound of one party. The right to vote was given to us, to use how we choose, even if that meant not voting.

Being punished for not getting involved is ludicrous, its a right, not a law.
Edited by Kharnivore2099, May 5 2011, 07:45 PM.
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Golden_Age_Gamer
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I don't vote
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majinpowers
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Kharnivore2099
May 5 2011, 07:45 PM
I dont see how that is better though. By not turning up then they are obvioiusly choosing to abstain, even if they did like the sound of one party. The right to vote was given to us, to use how we choose, even if that meant not voting.

Being punished for not getting involved is ludicrous, its a right, not a law.
I agree...

If your forced to go there or have to pay a fine then many people that dont care anything about voting would show up and just go through checking names not knowing anything about the person there voting for and all this would cause is more problems.

I do vote and have every time since I was 18. I see why many people dont vote because many times its like your choosing the lesser of two "evils" and sometimes would be voting for someone you dont like but just feel is better than the other candidates.

I think there should be a place on the ballet to vote for "none of the above" and if that gets enough votes then they should get new candidates and start the process over.
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eSkilliam
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I'm know in America you can do a write in vote for whoever you want. So its never really the lesser of two evils. If you vote, even if its for someone not on the ballot then I think you are entitled to all the rights I was talking about above.


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Overtimee
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I am on no Political Direction, so when i'm gonna hit 18 years i'll probably not be voting for that. Still, i'll probably vote on other things that may seem important to me.
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