Really, why do we vote?

[ModernArtist25]

Why do we vote when the chances of our vote becoming the deciding factor of an election is 1 in 60 million? We are more likely to die in a car crash than our voice "being heard". Opinions please, enlighten me.

[rangerx]

Actually, it's about 1 in 2 your voice will be heard.

[ModernArtist25]

You can sit in a voting booth, talk to yourself and nobody will hear you

We are more likely to get hit twice by lightning, does our vote really matter?

Edited November 5, 2016 by ModernArtist25

[Prometheus]

Your voice being heard doesn't equate to you deciding an election.

 

But i agree on some level. I don't believe democracy and voting are synonymous: as long as we have representation and accountability (and transparency but we're a long way from that) we have democracy. Voting is one way, but there may be better ways. Hopefully.

[Raider5678]

Its the same as saying

Every penny counts, if you have 60,000,000 pennies, while pennies individually are worthless, those 60,000,000 make a cool $60,000.

[ModernArtist25]

Its the same as saying

Every penny counts, if you have 60,000,000 pennies, while pennies individually are worthless, those 60,000,000 make a cool $60,000.

Yes if they are all yours to keep or give to someone you love

[dimreepr]

It's a collective voice not individual.

 

Think of it in terms of an bee, one bee's suicidal sting is just an irritant but if a thousand bee's do the same, they can drive off a hungry bear.

[Delta1212]

No single raindrop feels responsible for the flood.

[Sriman Dutta]

My vote is my voice, my opinion.

Voting is significant in establishing "a government of the people, by the people and for the people."

[DrmDoc]

Why do we vote when the chances of our vote becoming the deciding factor of an election is 1 in 60 million? We are more likely to die in a car crash than our voice "being heard". Opinions please, enlighten me.

 

Via voting, your voice gives gravitas to other voices that speak as one in solidarity on issues of mutual concern and importance to the stability, direction, and future of your society. Even in loss, your voice adds to a sizeable opposition whose opinions and concerns can't and shouldn't be ignore.

[iNow]

[Ophiolite]

You can sit in a voting booth, talk to yourself and nobody will hear you

We are more likely to get hit twice by lightning, does our vote really matter?

You are absolutely correct. You should never vote. Please avoid doing so in future. Indeed I encourage all of you to follow this advice.

 

I assure you it is purely coincidental that your absence from the polling booth will increase the power of my vote.

[Delta1212]

Voting is the final stroke in a round of golf. If you show up at the end and try to take your final swing from the teebox, no, you're probably not going to get a hole in one.

 

If you want to get the ball in the hole, you need to do all the work ahead of time. Vote in mid-terms. Vote in primaries. Donate time or money to candidates that you like. Built support for candidates, policies or parties in your local area and give them a base of support to build off of.

 

You have to do all that work to really make change. Then the vote is just tapping the ball into the hole after you've put it where you want it.

 

Voting is important, but it also doesn't take a lot of effort for most people to do. The amount of change that you get in a system is proportional to the amount of effort you put into changing things. If all you ever do is vote in Presidential elections every four years, you're putting in very little. If you don't even do that, you're putting in nothing.

[Function]

Because else, the Supreme Court will prosecute the one responsible for not allowing you to vote.

[ModernArtist25]

Can people vote online? How long does the process take?

 

I can vote for Hillary. Even though I am not that informed about politics, I know that from seeing some of the debates is like watching a college student(Hillary) argue with a fifth grader(Trump). Plus Trump doesn't know how to lie and that really scares me. The president needs to be able to maintain relationship and please other countries and sometimes it takes lying to do so. And what if our national security is at stake and Trump gets caught in a lie, oh my I am fearful 😱

Edited November 6, 2016 by ModernArtist25

[dimreepr]

Plus Trump doesn't know how to lie

[Delta1212]

 

Plus Trump doesn't know how to lie

He has a point. Trump lies constantly, but the lies are almost always blatant and exceedingly transparent. It's not that he is incapable of lying. It's that he isn't really very good at it.

[dimreepr]

Good point.

[iNow]

Can people vote online? How long does the process take?

No, online voting or voting by text is not currently possible (though some online trolls are trying to suppress turnout by suggesting you can, they're lying).

 

How long it takes to vote depends on where you live, how many voting stations are setup, what additional propositions are on the ballot, and when you decide to go.

 

When I took my family to early vote, there was no line and we were in and out in less than 4 minutes, but even if it took 4 hours or 4 days that's frankly little price to pay for helping your voice be heard and choosing the leader of the free world for the next 4 years.

[Ten oz]

Why do we vote when the chances of our vote becoming the deciding factor of an election is 1 in 60 million? We are more likely to die in a car crash than our voice "being heard". Opinions please, enlighten me.

While ones vote for the POTUS may just be one of tens of millions it isn't for the house or the Senate. We (society) overly focus the White House. It is Congress that controls the budget and our laws and in some races those reps are being elected by less than a thousand votes. Then there is State, county, and City elected leadership. When we lament about our public schools, roads, bridges, lack of public transportation, over policing, and etc most of the time it is local elected officials whom are making those choices. A single protest that draws attention or a single well written complaint goes a much longer way towards effected who an elected school board official or Police Chief is than who the President of the whole country is.

 

The problem isn't that every individual doesn't have more influence over who the President is. The problem is that most people simply aren't paying attention to the rest of the government. We cry about the Sec of States emails while at the same time having no idea who our City's Mayor is. Average people have tremendous electoral power but choose not to use it. Armed with rifles we try to shoot down satelites rather than take our communities a block by block.

[swansont]

The margins for some races is quite small, so if even a few people were convinced that their vote mattered could sway the result. Plus, in an election such as the US presidential election, margin matters in terms of a message. A large margin sends a different signal than a slim one.

 

Vote. It's your right, but it's also your duty.

[Raider5678]

Because this election was 80,000 votes.

[CharonY]

OP: Well, now you know.