Why do the majority of American not vote?

Question

I am curious why there are people in the country that do not register and vote. It takes all of 30mins round trip with traffic and time for decision making.

Tacyella:: I don't get it..how does not voting help? How does that do anything but make them even bolder knowing you won't do anything? Why not take those votes to a small partty/3rd party that is more in tune with you?

FYI I agree that the Dems and GOP are equally unfit to rule and I just about always vote for a 3rd party. I just don't understand how people can throw away something that so many people fought for, died for, and something that a lot of people wish they had.

by the way mamasquirrel I love that answer.

Inday it is my question and I will say whatever I feel like and if you don't like how I do it then remove your answer and never come back to my question.
If you actually read the words printed on the screen my addition was asking for more information based on an answer I had gotten because i did not understand
This is called a dialogue.

Answer 1

Maybe because they feel its a choice between tweedle dumb and and tweedle dumber, or Satan and the anti-Christ.

Answer 2

You know, I think the only reason I still vote is because of some defect in my intellect or thought processes'. Think about it. Why is it that at all levels of government, in so many elections, the candidate who is most villified and criticised wins? I don't believe it's the fault of the people who don't vote or even the people who do vote. I am suggesting the widely held belief that election results are determined before the election is held. Let me give you an example. When I was president of the local elementary school PTA, it was decided by the school board that each school would vote (one vote per family per child) on wether to make school uniforms manditory. To get ahead of this issue, the PTA held a straw vote - a survey if you will to get a feel for what the concensus might be. Our results were that 95% of households were strongly opposed to uniforms. When the election was held, the results were a landslide (80%) in fover of uniforms. What happened? A storm of protest followed the announcement of the election results, but it didn't matter. It was an obvious sham election. May I state the obvious, that the election process was currupted? This was an elementary school, for Christ's sake, and the issue was uniforms. Do you expect me to believe that when the stakes are raised to power, money and let's throw in world domination, (or damnation) that the process somehow becomes more clean or pristine or symbolic of the government's faith in the will of the people? I'm not quite as stupid as the image on my icon may appear to be. Rigged elections in the name of manifest destiny, I'm sure, has been considered and I believe accomplished - here and there, mind you. Not everywhere. Just enough to keep the flow of history on a predetermined course, by minimizing the role of the middle-man - that's you and your alledged vote. The technology to do this is certainly in place, (electronic voting machines, etc.) How blind, America, are we expected to be?

Answer 3

Considering that so many Americans can't even name 5 or 6 top officials, or identify who their local congressmen and women are, its probably better that they don't vote.

I always tell friends that they only have a right to complain if they practice their PRIVILEGE of voting.

For those who think that their vote doesn't count, they are sadly mistaken. It makes me sad to see so many people treat the "blessings of liberty" (ie the right to vote, speak out, etc.) as a chore, a hassle, or something that they "can't be bothered" with.

I'm forever getting on people to vote. Its important, and it does matter.

As far as presidential elections, I think many people don't really understand the full concept of the electoral system and how it works, which leads them to feel that votes don't count.

Political parties have their purpose, and are important, but I think that ultimately when someone goes into the voting booth, they need to choose the best person for the job, not the party they represent - I cross party lines all of the time. I write in names, too, if I don't like my choices.

So much is taken for granted in this country...for those that don't vote because they can't sort through all of the smear campaigns, check out this site http://votesmart.org/index.htm
Its just the facts, no lobby or candidate funding, its clear cut and straight forward.

Answer 4

It is true. For the last 20 years, the number of people who have voted has slowly dropped. We became complacent. We became more concerned about our next purchase, our big cars, our jobs, ourselves. It was too much trouble to pay attention to the candidates, to listen, read about them and the issues.

Then, the campaigns have become so nasty, nobody wants to speak on the issues, they spend their advertising dollars merely trashing each other. Most candidates never answer a direct question and play the evade and smoke screen game trying to be "everything to all people". This alone is enough to turn off the serious voters who care.

So we simply didn't bother. What we have today is the result. We allowed the Supreme Court to appoint our current president - not "we, the people". And look what we have; a mental midget, a man who hasn't had an original idea in his whole life, a warmonger and liar who has surrounded himself with others just like him. A man who had dragged us into an illegal war, ruined the relationship with world leaders, lied about EVERYTHING, fired anyone who didn't agree with him, ignores the mandate of the people, practically flips Congress off....

I think we may have learned a lesson through this. I believe and hope that passions are so high among "we, the people", that we will get off our butts and go to the voting booth. Hopefully we will never have another Bush. He is, without a doubt, the worst president in our history.

Answer 5

I will say many don't like the options given. I'd like to see "none of the above" as an option. There really isn't an honest choice anymore. The worst of 2 evils since it's almost impossible for even a 3rd party to make any headway. We already seen the problems with voting machines. We already know people are voting that aren't even citizens. We already know votes are being bought off. It's become so corrupt that it's hard to beleive your vote really does count. They declare people winners or loosers before all the votes are even counted.....I don't trust them anymore. But I do vote anyway.........it's my responsibility as a citizen. If we don't exercise the right.....before long we may not have it. They don't listen to the people anyway so it's not impossible to imagine that they may decide our vote doesn't matter and it's too expensive to keep up with this farce.

Answer 6

Most people simply want to live their lives the way they want, without interference or disturbance. The only time a large percentage of a population will take it upon themselves to effect change is when there are obvious problems that affect them personally. According to Wikipedia, low voter turnout is caused by disenchantment, indifference, or contentment. I would say that the main reason very few Americans bother to vote is that there are really very few major problems in America that personally affect large numbers of people (basically, contentment), followed by a large number of people who don't believe it matters which way one votes, things will keep on going the way they have been (indifference) with disenchantment, or the belief that their vote simply doesn't matter, coming in third.

I believe the tide is turning a bit, in that there are an increasing number of problems (health care, retirement concerns, pay levels, and infrastructure decay) that are beginning to be felt on a wide-scale personal level. The result will be an increasingly critical look at candidates and what they have to say about these issues compared to their recent track record. The results will either be increasing levels of disenchantment and indifference, or increased voter participation.

Answer 7

My husband doesn't vote. According to him - it doesn't matter because his vote doesn't count. I don't totally agree with him. I've been registered to vote since age 18 (I'm now 25) and I've voted in every election that's come my way. I may not be 100% positive that my vote is going to matter - most times I don't think it will - but I still research the issues and candidates (if any) and vote the way I believe is best. From the way I see it - we, as a nation, have become lazy and apathetic. Why should we vote if we believe that it's not going to matter?

Answer 8

Apathy, the feeling that their vote doesn't count or they do not have any qualified candidate to vote for. This is really a big problem to as a minority of the people in the U.S. are running the majority and the country as a whole loses, I have voted in at least every Presidential and congressional elections since 1968 and many of the local elections that I feel had important issues. I feel this is not only my right but my privilege.

Answer 9

I would say the main reason people in this country don't vote is because of the mind set that one vote does not count. The problem is so many people feel this way that the numbers add up. I know a city council race that was decided by one absentee vote. So one vote does count.

Answer 10

The majority of people would rather complain then do something about it.
I know that where I live the people in my town find it a complete waste to vote because they think they wont make a difference so they just sit back and whine.
I do hope that someday people realize that it is very important to vote.
I am a firm believe that if you didn't vote then you have no right to voice your opinion.

Answer 11

This is a pet theory of mine, but one of the core reasons I believe people who are registered to vote will abdicate their responsibility is a profound lack of social identity to the candidates.

For example, I have no interest in the majority of candidates running for President. With the possible exception of Sen. Barack Obama, I don't see any real relation or link to any individual running for that office.

None of them seem real or even human. Something about a career in politics seems to remove any reason to care or feel anything about what they represent.

That's my two cents on the topic.