Are you going to vote?

[UserNameGoesHere]

What about an "Eh, Iunno" option? A "maybe"? An "I'm not sure yet"?

Also why so many possible reasons for "No" yet only the one "Yes"? Is it blindly assumed that everyone who votes does so for the exact same reason?

I wonder how many write-in votes that Kony person gets because of idiots who saw the "Kony 2012" stickers/signs and thought he was running for President?

[darkshark]

Originally Posted by reuben_tate

But if EVERYONE said their vote didn't matter and they didn't vote...

Then we would probably have a better system in place than voting, because this system is terrible. It would be great if officials were elected based on competency instead of money and speeches.

[UserNameGoesHere]

Originally Posted by darkshark

Then we would probably have a better system in place than voting, because this system is terrible. It would be great if officials were elected based on competency instead of money and speeches.

Thank you!

All my virtual +1's to this.

And/or if you had to pass some very basic intelligence and/or civics test in order to vote, and you had to pass the new test every election year. Something along the lines of you can do basic math, have basic reading comprehension down, don't outright fail simple logic, and have at least minimal understanding of US history and government.

The government could even offer free classes to teach people about any of these things, for disadvantaged people who wish to take some sort of initiative.

I wonder how much it would help?

[IIILUCKEYIII]

Originally Posted by UserNameGoesHere

Thank you!

All my virtual +1's to this.

And/or if you had to pass some very basic intelligence and/or civics test in order to vote, and you had to pass the new test every election year. Something along the lines of you can do basic math, have basic reading comprehension down, don't outright fail simple logic, and have at least minimal understanding of US history and government.

The government could even offer free classes to teach people about any of these things, for disadvantaged people who wish to take some sort of initiative.

I wonder how much it would help?

I sympathize with your logic; people who vote shouldn't be dummies. But making people take tests before they can vote is exactly what southern states did in the 19th century to prevent as many underprivileged blacks and whites from voting, so it's like taking a step back in civil rights.

Also, immigrants seeking citizenship have to pass a difficult test based on our nations history and government. I wouldn't be surprised if a new citizen who passed that test knew more about all this than most of us did. Honestly, I wish I were more familiar with our country's history and legislation, there's a lot to know and much that I don't know.

But I do agree, it would be nice if everyone took greater interest in getting out there and learning more.

[dAnceguy117]

Originally Posted by UserNameGoesHere

And/or if you had to pass some very basic intelligence and/or civics test in order to vote, and you had to pass the new test every election year. Something along the lines of you can do basic math, have basic reading comprehension down, don't outright fail simple logic, and have at least minimal understanding of US history and government.

The government could even offer free classes to teach people about any of these things, for disadvantaged people who wish to take some sort of initiative.

I don't think I like this idea. Virtually no one in the U.S. would fail such a test except those who didn't get an education past very early years. The vast majority of kids who either drop out or get kicked out of school come from lower class families and the like. Weeding people out of voting based largely on socioeconomic class seems like a big step in the wrong direction.

Wouldn't it be nice if public schooling were more effective? I believe that would have a much more positive influence on the country's political makeup.

[xVaLoRx]

I will vote next time around (only 16)

[i heart candy]

Originally Posted by MracY

The only person is worthy of being called an idiot in this case is the one who didn't try to provide arguments for his opinion. Such a thing has no merit. Anyone can simply restate his opinion 1000 times and pretend he's right.

I won't say anything else in case you were trolling. In the case that you weren't, I hope you've realised you should had added more nuance.

I was not trolling.
I feel like there is no need to explain why it's essential to vote especially since voting is exercised even on a 4th grade level. Hell, they even teach kids in high school why it's important to vote.

But I'm done here. Knowing the FFR community, someone is going to disagree and then a bunch of bandwagoners will come in because nobody on FFR is original. /endrant

[reuben_tate]

Voting may seem like a very non-efficient way to make a change, but it's the LEAST someone could do as an American citizen in a system like this, so at least take advantage of whatever power you have as US citizen. So unless you're doing something on a larger scale to make a difference in this country, the least you could do is vote.

Originally Posted by darkshark

Then we would probably have a better system in place than voting, because this system is terrible. It would be great if officials were elected based on competency instead of money and speeches.

We don't have an objective way of determining which candidate is the most competent, the only way we can determine that is by the judgements of multiple people which is how are elections work, although it's sad because you are right that money and sappy speeches tend to skew the judgement of many. Some changes in the way elections work would be nice, but right now this is all we have to work with.

[darkshark]

Originally Posted by reuben_tate

Voting may seem like a very non-efficient way to make a change, but it's the LEAST someone could do as an American citizen in a system like this, so at least take advantage of whatever power you have as US citizen. So unless you're doing something on a larger scale to make a difference in this country, the least you could do is vote.



We don't have an objective way of determining which candidate is the most competent, the only way we can determine that is by the judgements of multiple people which is how are elections work, although it's sad because you are right that money and sappy speeches tend to skew the judgement of many. Some changes in the way elections work would be nice, but right now this is all we have to work with.

This is a sad system and I hate that it's implemented pretty much globally. If you're going to be a president, I feel like you should be one of the most competent people in the country, and don't tell me there's no objective way of determining that.

G.W.Bush had a C average in college, and look what he did to this country.
I feel like it should at least be a requirement that you have higher than a C average in college to run a country.

[Reincarnate]

Problem is you can't stop someone from voting based on some knowledge test but then turn around and tax them anyway

[UserNameGoesHere]

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

Problem is you can't stop someone from voting based on some knowledge test but then turn around and tax them anyway

Excellent point. How do we encourage better education then?

If we can't get better leaders without better educated voters, and we can't just weed out the least educated voters, then how do we improve the overall education of our nation such that things might get better in the future?

[Xx{Midnight}xX]

Nop because honestly I have very little interest in politics.

But I do hope people vote obama because romney is a ****ing idiot

[i heart candy]

Originally Posted by Xx{Midnight}xX

Nop because honestly I have very little interest in politics.

Even though politics affect you......right.

[Xx{Midnight}xX]

They do affect me, but I have no interest in it because it's a gigantic mess I don't want to try wrapping my head around. I'll leave it to the people who have a natural interest and the know-how.

[i heart candy]

Originally Posted by reuben_tate

Voting may seem like a very non-efficient way to make a change, but it's the LEAST someone could do as an American citizen in a system like this, so at least take advantage of whatever power you have as US citizen. So unless you're doing something on a larger scale to make a difference in this country, the least you could do is vote.

This^
I hope some of you people who do not vote look at these words closely and realize how important it is to vote.

[A2P]

meta bumps ftw

[Winrar]

I hope romney wins so everything will be lulzy. ^_^

[Hazelle]

Originally Posted by Winrar

I hope romney wins so everything will be lulzy. ^_^

At least you put a positive spin on it.
It'll be like Alice in Wonderland, except worse.

[Niala]

No, I'm not American.

Why wasn't that on the poll?

[Izzy]

I've had the opportunity to vote twice now. Probably still won't, but I would vote for Obama. Pretty confident he will win anyways.