The right to vote

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Tom

Tom

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Per our forum rules and the wishes of our forum members, I/we don't discuss politics here. But, today we received our absentee ballots in the mail; Makes it easy to participate while we travel.

As (legal) immigrants, our voting rights were granted when we became naturalized citizens in the Reagan era. The last thing the judge told the room when we went through the wonderful naturalization ceremony was "go out and exercise your right to vote".

Please don't ask who I/we will vote for, and don't suggest or impose your own preferences. That would get this topic shut down in a hurry. Thanks.
 
It really doesn't matter much with the silly (and rigged) electorial system we use.>>>Dan (I'm not talking politics here, I'm talking about the SYSTEM of politics)
 
I'm talking about our fundamental right to vote, which is not enjoyed by folks in all countries. Even in the democratic homeland of the UK, we experienced ballot rigging in the 60's.
 
We will be on our way south on election day, but our county(and state) has early voting satellite sites that open next Monday, so we will be voting next week.  We could have also received absentee ballots, but this will be easier.
 
Where as UtahClaimJumper.. Even though I agree about the system being Rigged, I think it does matter.
And respecting Tom's wishes, that is as far as I will go with this.

VOTE: if you do not vote you are not allowed to complain about how it turns out. If your guy Looses you can say "I told you so" If your guy wins. Live with it.. Guy is generic, can be a woman.
 
I have never mailed my vote ,,as an "old school voter" I enjoy going to the polls and casting.>>>D And I get a sticker that says I voted)
 
John From Detroit said:
Where as UtahClaimJumper.. Even though I agree about the system being Rigged, I think it does matter.
And respecting Tom's wishes, that is as far as I will go with this.

VOTE: if you do not vote you are not allowed to complain about how it turns out. If your guy Looses you can say "I told you so" If your guy wins. Live with it.. Guy is generic, can be a woman.
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I saw a sign the other day that said "if you don't vote and you can, it means you don't count". 
Hope everyone votes. We did last week by absentee ballot.
 
I particularly don't like the electoral colledge because its made up of "professional politicians" which we could do nicely without.>>>D
 
I enjoy going to the polls and casting.>>>D And I get a sticker that says I voted
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We've received our "I voted" stickers numerous times, but our travel schedule the last few years has made it tough to get to a polling booth. So the absentee ballot made sense for us.

When I was a kid back in the home country, my Dad used to volunteer to work at the polling centres.
 
We like to get the "I voted" stickers when we vote near our upstate NY cottage. Our favorite local diner gives out free coffee or tea to anyone wearing one on election day.  ;D
 
I firmly believe it is a citizen's responsibility to vote, millions have fought and died to obtain and preserve that privilege. We don't always get the result we want but however imperfect it is the best system  we have come up with so far to ensure our freedom. If we don't we get the government we deserve
 
Since the UK has copied so many US-related things, maybe they'll start the "I voted" decal tradition  ???

;D
 
John From Detroit said:
Where as UtahClaimJumper.. Even though I agree about the system being Rigged, I think it does matter.
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Even though I believe that the Electoral College isnt purfect, can you imagine, or ever thought about what a mess it would be if we went to a direct vote?
 
LOL Paul, that's how the UK electoral process works. Brits and other "overseas members" don't understand the electoral college system/process.
 
Tom said:
LOL Paul, that's how the UK electoral process works. Brits and other "overseas members" don't understand the electoral college system/process.
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Do they have direct vote in England?
 
It is 'first past the post', we have the same system. The party that gets the most seats in  Parliament, the equivalent of your Congress, forms the government with it's leader becoming Prime Minister. I don't really understand the rationale behind your electoral college.
 
John From Detroit said:
VOTE: if you do not vote you are not allowed to complain about how it turns out. If your guy Looses you can say "I told you so" If your guy wins. Live with it.. Guy is generic, can be a woman.
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I very much disagree with this sentiment.  If there is no one running that stands for what I believe, then casting a vote for 'the lesser of two evils" is not being true to myself or what this country stands for (or did at one time)  I very much have the right to complain even if I don't vote.  The only thing I would be doing by voting would be to vote against the candidate I hate the least.  The two party system has failed me as an American Citizen.  I would love to vote, but only if I had someone to VOTE FOR!!!
 
RoyM said:
It is 'first past the post', we have the same system. The party that gets the most seats in  Parliament, the equivalent of your Congress, forms the government with it's leader becoming Prime Minister. I don't really understand the rationale behind your electoral college.
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As you realize now the President is selected separately from Congress, so the President could be (and frequently is) a different political party from the majority party of Congress.  This prevents one political party from having all the power.  It also can lead to political gridlock where nothing gets accomplished. (IMHO, not necessarily a bad thing.  If it isn't broke don't try to fix it.)
The electoral college was a compromise, and I believe it still serves a good purpose.  The EC gives more rural and lesser populated states somewhat greater leverage in the Presidential election than their low population would otherwise have, and the more populous states a somewhat lesser leverage.  This prevents a handful of populous urban states from totally dominating the national political process and forces the candidates to at least pay some attention to the rest of the country, while still maintaining majority rule.
 
Theboomanchu said:
I very much disagree with this sentiment.  If there is no one running that stands for what I believe, then casting a vote for 'the lesser of two evils" is not being true to myself or what this country stands for (or did at one time)  I very much have the right to complain even if I don't vote.  The only thing I would be doing by voting would be to vote against the candidate I hate the least.  The two party system has failed me as an American Citizen.  I would love to vote, but only if I had someone to VOTE FOR!!!
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X2.  You do not have to be an enabler by voting for a candidate you still find objectionable just because the other candidate is more objectionable.  You should still vote, though.  You can leave one section of the ballot blank and still vote for the remainder of the issues and local races.  Or you can cast an entirely blank ballot.
 
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