Vote reminiscences/scsceses/memorie NOT POLITICAL

[Beebs52]

I just read a blog about a guy who has served in the armed forces and cast his first vote at the age of 36. He described the usual array of reasons why he hadn't voted, etc. And, I know this has been discussed here on the bored, but here's the thing. And I'm not talking about "qualified voters" or "informed voters", because as I have said in some form or fashion, the reasons people vote for whomever vary, and who am I to ascribe value to those reasons? "Reasoned" people on each side could produce very intellectually sound arguments for each side, with the same number of people voting for someone because they like a hairdo. I really don't care. I think the mathematics would work out for whomever to win regardless. And at what point are you "informed"?

Anyway, my question is about those who don't vote at all. I confess, there have been some local and state elections where I've not cast a vote because I was totally fucking clueless on the person or issue. Not shining moments for me, but true. However, I voted when I was 19 for the first time in a national election because I could. I was raised by a distinctly pro-state-your-case mom and you better vote or you can't moan and groan. So, I see where upbringing "informs" your reactions.

But, if everybody thought their vote was useless or insignificant or too inconvenient to cast or it might interfere with your manicure or ballgame watching, then nobody would vote. Then, we'd have NO VOTES. Nobody voting would mean NO VOTES. Then, you could have someone appoint your representatives and, trust me, I live with that shit, and on a micro basis it's manageable, but on a macro basis we would be sunk lower than our mosquito dunk in the French drain.

So, my actual question is, why wouldn't you vote on something like a Presidential election? Or State Rep or US Rep? Or whatever issue pushes your buttons?

This in no way obliterates my agreement with AJ about people having the prerogative of bitching about things even if they don't vote.

I just don't understand why people don't vote.

[Beebs52]

I just realized I was 20 when I actually cast my first vote, since the change passed in 1971. Unless I've forgotten when elections happened...

I was 19 when the change happened. Not THAT change.

[TheCalvinator24]

I turned 18 in August 1986. I've missed only one Primary, Runoff, or General Election since. In the fall of 1990, I didn't get my absentee ballot filled out in time to get it in for the Texas Gubernatorial race. When I was in law school, I even drove up after classes in March so I could participate in my Precinct Convention (which ultimately led to my being selected as a Delegate to the Texas Republican Convention for the first time.

[Beebs52]

I turned 18 in August 1986. I've missed only one Primary, Runoff, or General Election since. In the fall of 1990, I didn't get my absentee ballot filled out in time to get it in for the Texas Gubernatorial race. When I was in law school, I even drove up after classes in March so I could participate in my Precinct Convention (which ultimately led to my being selected as a Delegate to the Texas Republican Convention for the first time.

I participated in a local county convention a couple of years ago due to the fact that our neighbors are/were precinct chairs and she was the chief of staff of our local state rep to the Texas House (he's now the state senator). That was a trip. The machinations by some of the local lunatic fringe, and they ARE lunatic fringe, were amusing, though not successful. It was an eye-opening exercise that I shan't forget anytime soon.

[Ritterskoop]

I voted early this time. It took just over an hour from start to finish, and it was COLD that first half hour in line outside. There is nothing to stop the wind on our campus, as we are on top of a hill.

I liked the feeling of having earned a vote. It was different from the other times, when I walk into a church basement and am out of there in 5 minutes.

I wondered how it would be for us if we had to work harder to cast ballots.

[Jeemie]

Most (read- MOST, not all) people don't mature until they are in their 30s. This has a lot to do with brain chemsirty, wiring, etc as much as anything else.

And most people aren't burdened with family and house payments, etc. until they're in their 30s as well.

So it doesn't surprise me that you hear stories of people voting for the first time when they're in their 30s.

And I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing- the more connected you feel with the issues because of your personal situation (having a family, having a home, etc), the more you'll usually go out of your way to vote.

I'm not too sure that the Founding Fathers didn't have it right by having qualifications such as being a land-owner so you could have your right to vote. And I personally think the voting age should be higher. It's not necessarily a good thing to have more people voting. I'd rather have fewer voters but more "high-quality" voters.

You SHOULD have to earn the right to have a say in how the country should be led- if you have to earn it, then maybe you won't treat it so cavalierly.

[gsabc]

There was an old "Legion of Super-Heroes" story, when they introduced a character from a planet where everyone could see into the short-term future. The headline on a newspaper was that someone won an election 1-0. The comment of the person in the panel was "Someone voted again. Someone always votes!"

We've taught HS and BD that they should vote in every election, and remind them to the point of nagging whenever there is one. I've never understood not voting either, at least not completely. Even if you can't or won't actively work for your candidate or issue, voting is the least you can do to support them/it. It at least shows some opposition to an expected winner. At the local level, even unopposed candidates compare their vote count to that of the election as a whole, to see if there were people who submitted write-ins or just didn't vote for them as their form of opposition.

[earendel]

Most (read- MOST, not all) people don't mature until they are in their 30s. This has a lot to do with brain chemsirty, wiring, etc as much as anything else.

And most people aren't burdened with family and house payments, etc. until they're in their 30s as well.

Hmmm.....I was married at age 20 and had my first child by age 22. Maybe that's why I've always been a voter.

You SHOULD have to earn the right to have a say in how the country should be led- if you have to earn it, then maybe you won't treat it so cavalierly.

[/quote]
Sounds like Heinlein's "Starship Troopers".

[Jeemie]

[quote="earendel]Hmmm.....I was married at age 20 and had my first child by age 22. Maybe that's why I've always been a voter.


Sounds like Heinlein's "Starship Troopers".[/quote]

OK- I can't help it if you were 40 when you were 20!!! LOL!!!!

OK- maybe not raise the voting age, but have some qualifications for voting.

I think of voting as a privilege, not a right...I was indeed thinking of Starship Troopers.

[earendel]

Hmmm.....I was married at age 20 and had my first child by age 22. Maybe that's why I've always been a voter.

Sounds like Heinlein's "Starship Troopers".

OK- I can't help it if you were 40 when you were 20!!! LOL!!!!

That's what my children tell me whenever I say something like, "When I was your age I was already married..."

OK- maybe not raise the voting age, but have some qualifications for voting.

The problem with this is who sets the standards. There were "qualifications" for African-Americans to vote in the South in the '50s and '60s.

I think of voting as a privilege, not a right...I was indeed thinking of Starship Troopers.

Pretty good book, terrible movie. As a counterpoint I recommend Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War" (but avoid its sequel like the plague!)

[marrymeflyfree]

So, my actual question is, why wouldn't you vote on something like a Presidential election? Or State Rep or US Rep? Or whatever issue pushes your buttons?

My mom made me wear a nice dress to school one day when I was in the first or second grade...then my dad picked me up just before lunch and took me with him to vote. It was all a surprise to me. He explained the whole process and why it was so important. I remember very clearly walking down the sidewalk as we left the school, dad in his coat and tie and me in my nice dress. He'd just told me what it was all about and what we were voting for that day. When I asked him who he was voting for, he said it was private. He told me that your vote is personal and that you don't have to tell anyone if you don't want to. I remember the booth with the blue curtain, and the nice lunch we had afterward before I went back to school. I felt very grown up and special, and it was fun.

I think back on that every time I get to vote now. Maybe I wouldn't be as excited about it if I'd not had that experience. Maybe I wouldn't have had the motivation to learn about the process of registering or knowing where to go if my dad hadn't taken me that day. Maybe my motivation to learn a little something about the issues and candidates was born out of the imprint my dad left on me that day. (Maybe he regrets doing it now, since he and I always vote differently!)

So that is why I vote. I was taught to care about the process and to value the role that an individual ballot can play in that. Perhaps I wouldn't care enough to consider why I didn't vote had I not had that early experience.

[Jeemie]

So, my actual question is, why wouldn't you vote on something like a Presidential election? Or State Rep or US Rep? Or whatever issue pushes your buttons?

My mom made me wear a nice dress to school one day when I was in the first or second grade...then my dad picked me up just before lunch and took me with him to vote. It was all a surprise to me. He explained the whole process and why it was so important. I remember very clearly walking down the sidewalk as we left the school, dad in his coat and tie and me in my nice dress. He'd just told me what it was all about and what we were voting for that day. When I asked him who he was voting for, he said it was private. He told me that your vote is personal and that you don't have to tell anyone if you don't want to. I remember the booth with the blue curtain, and the nice lunch we had afterward before I went back to school. I felt very grown up and special, and it was fun.

I think back on that every time I get to vote now. Maybe I wouldn't be as excited about it if I'd not had that experience. Maybe I wouldn't have had the motivation to learn about the process of registering or knowing where to go if my dad hadn't taken me that day. Maybe my motivation to learn a little something about the issues and candidates was born out of the imprint my dad left on me that day. (Maybe he regrets doing it now, since he and I always vote differently!)

So that is why I vote. I was taught to care about the process and to value the role that an individual ballot can play in that. Perhaps I wouldn't care enough to consider why I didn't vote had I not had that early experience.

From personal experience (which makes this anecdotal), it appears that kids whose parents took them into the voting booth with them grow up into adults who are more likely to vote than kids whose parents didn't do this.

My mom took me and all my brothers and sisters with her to vote...just like with you, it was a special occasion...with each of us, it was the first election after we turned 9 or 10 years old. Then we would go to lunch afterwards (same thing as with you!)

[minimetoo26]

I don't remember the first time I voted, but I do remember the first time my mom voted after she became a citizen, so I will never take it for granted again. I was 26 when she was naturalized, so I've been voting since my 20's.

I remember registering at a table outside a KMart where I was buying a red Hoover canister vacuum. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I remember the purchase and the registration, but not the voting. I couldn't have been much older than 21 since I got the vacuum for my apartment after leaving college.

[TheCalvinator24]

One of my earliest memories is of going with my mom to the polling place in 1972. We got in the booth, which was one of the old lever types with an actual curtain, and I loudly asked "So are you going to vote for that ________ fellow?"

I'll let y'all try to figure who I named.

[ghostjmf]

Jeemie says, re Heinlein's "Starship Troopers:

I'm not too sure that the Founding Fathers didn't have it right by having qualifications such as being a land-owner so you could have your right to vote.

Heinlein was a jackass (of the libertarian variety) & every living breathing not-in-a-vegetative-state-for-pete's-sake human of the voting age & over should be allowed to vote.

And yes, I read each & every one Heinlein's novels. And short stories. When I was 11 & 12. I pretty much figured out that he was a jackass back then, even though the word "libertarian" was not at the time in my vocabulary. Novels were entertaining if you could seperate the jackass political rants, of which there were many, out.


The Founding Fathers were slave-owners & subjugators of women, speaking of 2 groups of people also disenfranchised. Whether or not the non-slave women owned that all-precious land, which in some cases they did.

And just for the record, unless somebody's already done it, Heinlein wanted voting restricted to those who had fulfilled military service, not land-ownership. Welcome to Sparta.