A Myth About Not Voting

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Once upon a time, there was a citizen named Julie. Julie was reading about the candidates, and while she agreed with certain things from Candidate Bob and not much from Candidate Norm, she felt that since she didn't agree 100% with Candidate Bob, she would not vote for anyone this year. 
And on Election Day, when all was said and done, and Candidate Norm had won, The Great Voter Council sat in their chamber, feeling the psychic energy from all the non-voters. "Peggy was sick today!" said a council member. "Joey was fed up with the system and didn't vote!" said another.  "Really, neither did Julie! Or Sammy! Or Kelly! Or Mary! Or Bobby! Or Gary! My goodness!" said another council member.  The Chairman of the Great Voter Council stepped forward and said "I think it's clear, my fellow council members. With so many people staying home today, they have sent a message! We have felt their psychic energy, which tells us who has not voted and why, and we now know what we must do! We must fix the system!  To the horses!" and the council got on their horses, and road off to Washington, to fix everything.

When you don't vote, nobody knows why you didn't vote.  There is no difference between Julie who didn't vote because she's fed up and Peggy who had the flu. Nobody's tracking who didn't vote. There is no minimum number of voters needed. So the fewer people vote, the fewer people are making decisions. If the only person who votes in the election is Tim, then the rest of us are just Tim's bitches.

There are times when abstaining sends a message. Where silence speaks louder than words.  This is NOT one of those times.  This is one of those times where someone who is absent on Election Day on principle is the same as someone who was in a coma. As far as the candidates and government are concerned, you're the same as the guy who forgot to vote. About the only thing the candidates hope, is that your non-vote works in their favor. You haven't just opted not to speak, you've opted not to be relevant. You're not smarter than the rest of us, you're just pickier.

Nobody's required to vote, but the only message you're sending on Election Day when you don't vote is this:

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