Every election, every opportunity to vote, is important. The health of our representative republic is at risk with every election. It isn’t your civic responsibility to vote, it’s a privilege and one which shouldn’t be abused. Our country is based on the principle of an electorate selecting people who best represent their opinions and aspirations. Those representatives are then empowered to make laws in concert with the majority of their constituents, while protecting the rights of the minority.
The burgeoning practice of ballot initiatives, while seeming more ‘democratic’, is actioned to circumvent the representative government and intentionally empower an uninformed, reactionary, electorate. A democracy only works if the electorate are educated, involved, fully informed, and capable of weighing all options in making competent decisions.
Today, the ballots are argued in 30 second sound bites throughout all forms of media. Salted with just enough truth to be plausible and ample emotion to stir the voters. This yields a confused, uninformed, and misinformed voter population incapable of articulating the complex aspects of ballot measures. The final result, the high probability of really bad law and long term, unforeseen, impacts.
Choosing to support and vote for your favorite candidate is one thing. That vote can be corrected in the next election. An uninformed vote on any ballot measure is an emotionally driven, ignorant vote.
Become involved and informed. Don’t believe your friends and neighbors, and especially don’t believe the media broadcasts. There’s no excuse for you not to do the research and become an informed voter. But, if you don’t have all the facts, it’s your civic responsibility not to vote……..
simplebender 