COLUMN: Not voting wastes a privilege

Published: Thursday, November 7, 2002


If you don't vote, you're trespassing.

As an idealist, I believe that a post-gubernatorial column is worthwhile as long as it encourages at least one individual who consciously threw their license to vote in the gutter on Tuesday to vote next year.

Even though modern voting may at times be purely symbolic, it is what it is symbolic of that's significant. It doesn't take a doctorate in semiotics to realize that voting, while not just an American privilege, is a dangerous privilege, a non-discriminatory privilege, and the most powerful privilege we have. Every vote cast determines in which direction the country will head or, even more compelling, where the country will not head.

The act of voting is one of the most flattering gifts that a government can bestow upon its citizens. Voting is tantamount to a political body saying, "Hey, you uneducated nose picker, even though you may not have the cognitive capacity to understand the complexity of the Senate, or the significance of checks and balances, I'm willing to let you choose your representative in the political monster truck rally."

"But one vote can't make a difference" is a cliché that does nothing more than pussyfoot around a graver issue. If you don't vote, you're not fulfilling your duty as an American. And to the insubordinate herd that claim that not voting shows their contempt for "the system," now is your time to change the things about this country that you don't like! Rather than complain about how much America sucks with the guns and the drugs and the conservative imperialism, cast your vote against all of these things! Elect officials who will stand up for your ideals and values.

"But I don't want to have to decide between the lesser of two evils" is a maxim more often than not expressed by people who don't know anything about the political platforms. Ignorance of political agendas is generally a factor of indolence; people aren't willing to invest the time to educate themselves about the candidates so they chose not to vote at all. I certainly hope that when Resurrected Napoleon runs against the Dark Lord himself, people might be a little more willing to choose between the "lesser of two evils."

There's no justified excuse for not casting your ballot unless you're dead. And in Northern New Mexico this doesn't even stop some die-hard voters!

After talking to several of my close friends, I was absolutely appalled after finding that a large portion of them had actually spent time coming up with excuses for not voting. The very fact that an excuse is necessary alludes to the belief in voter-citizen responsibility. For example, if my mother were to ask me if I kicked the dog today, I wouldn't need to justify why I didn't kick the dog because I'm not supposed to kick the dog. Therefore, I don't need an excuse. But when someone contrives a reason as to why they didn't do something, there's an unspoken acceptance of an expectation that hasn't been met. Rationalizing not voting because, "I had too much to do yesterday," or "I have the right not to vote," means that one secretly believes that one ought to vote, not that one should vote or that one feels inclined to do so, but that one has a moral obligation to dedicate ten minutes of their day to pushing the button that get people elected. Just think of it as a video game with words.

As American citizens, we're granted a myriad of privileges so numerous that listing them would take up the entire length of this article. And with these privileges comes responsibility and part of this responsibility is to vote, to make a decision as to where we want the country to be in five, 10, or 50 years.

Not voting is indicative of apathy and ignorance, but most of all, a generalized psychosis called the "Whatever Disorder." The symptoms of the Whatever Disorder are often mistaken for patriotic irresponsibility, a.k.a., not voting. That's right, voting is a responsibility that every citizen carries on his or her shoulders. Granted, at times this responsibility may be deemed a burden, but life's not always meant to be easy. The Whatever Disorder is slowly becoming a more ubiquitous diagnosis than ADD.