Hi All, as regular readers of the general board know, I'm your resident paranoid militia guy. I'm wondering how many folks here on FTE are regular voters ? I vote in every election my district has, but sometimes wonder what differance, if any, one guy picking libertarian candidates really has ? Does my vote really matter ? Does yours ? Do you vote ? Do you think your vote matters ? Did the re-counts and court battles in the last presidential election change your opinion on voting ? DF

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 24-Nov-01 AT 05:57 PM (EST)][font color="004499" size="2"]
Okay, some of you listened to the news stories, and some payed no attention. This is MY story;

Months before the election, I had a warm fuzzy that my ballot would arrive. I AM a resident of Tennessee, and in the military stationed far from my home and family.

I figured that at the worst, my family would send a ballot to me if the absentee one did not get here.

As the election drew closer, I began to have doubts, and started to explore the ways that I could ENSURE that my vote would be counted (AND IT DOES COUNT).

The state had no clear way to register online, although I was pretty sure I had already registered. The best info I could find, was that I had to register by a form I could submit, but the first time I voted I HAD TO BE THERE IN PERSON. That was not possible at the time...

I looked around my command, for the voting registration rep, but he was on leave, and no one seemed to know who the alternate was...

Crunch time came, and at the last minute the rules changed in Tennessee - but the registration would have been invalid for the coming election if I used that option (to register online). The reason being that it would have been within a certain time frame from the coming election...

I was SCREWED!

I was LEFT OUT, even though I did everything I could think of to register, or ensure that I was and would get an absentee ballot to send in.

AL GORE came from that state - and the state voted AGAINST him. I don't even believe his HORSES still recognise that has-been!

I sometimes wonder if he himself screwed around with those laws?
I wouldn't put it past him, but I have only a suspicion, no proof.

In december of last year, I went straight to the county courthouse, my first opportunity to TAKE LEAVE.

Yes, I was registered.
No sir, they did not realise I was in the military, and needed a ballot sent to my duty station.

- Well by God it's on record now...

That was the entire reason I ran (WITH THE TRUCKERS!!!) 75-95 miles an hour down the interstate, for 800 miles, to MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that I had my say in the next one.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Don't even think about such things as; "Well, my candidate probably isn't as popular as (such-and-such) anyway...", don't for a split second buy the attitude: 'My job can't spare me'...

Your place of work BETTER by god let you vote, because THAT is the one right very definitely given to you FROM THE BEGINNING, by all of those wise and thoughtful people who made this country a nation in the first place. And we owe it to them AND ourselves, to use that right, and obligation, which was won for us all at such an enormous cost.

~And now you all know how I feel about it.

http://www.clubfte.com/users/greywolf/usaflag.gif

GOD BLESS THE [/font][font color="red" size="4"]UNITED [/font][font color="blue" size="4"]STATES [/font][font color="red" size="4"]OF [/font][font color="blue" size="4"]AMERICA[/font]

 

Voting Libertarian is NOT a wasted vote. If enough people voted them, even if it doesn't change the outcome, it gives notice to the winner about what people think are important issues. I generally don't vote Libertarian on national tickets because I don't believe in everything they stand for on the national level such as their stance on drugs, abortion and the highway system. On the local level its Republican or Libertarian, depending on the candidate.

Too bad we can't get a WELL known Libertarian to run for national office that has the charisma that Ronald Reagan did! :-)

 

Ken?

What is your opinion of the Independant party?

Do you think the Republican/Democrat split should have more competition?

And yeah, I sure wish "Ronbo" was here, but GW seems to be doing a hella better job than a Beaver Smoocher could...

 

It seems to attract too many of the fringe crowd and candidates, just like Nader and his gang do on the far left. Not that I don't believe there's some good there, but when you associate with certain people they are going to label you as part of their group. The sincere people in the party get lumped in with the lunatics who are there because no one else will take them....

Besides... the Republicans & Democrats do have competition and its been around a lot longer than the Independant party: Libertarians.

I am a conservative, and for the most part, the Republican party is conservative... except on some issues. If I could just find a candidate with the fiscal beliefs of a Libertarian and the policy/social beliefs of a Republican... then he would be the perfect person for the job.

 

I'm Very conservative! I have been voting Republican for a long time, except the one time I voted for Ross Perot, Clinton won.
That year I felt like I wasted my Vote.
I "Fired" George Bush for something I felt he could do, even tho he felt he couldn't do it. It was Flatten Bagdad, and when it was safe, send in the Mop up troops.

But in Fireing Bush, I helped let CLinton in the Door. I'll admit, I never thought he had a chance. I was sure nobody could vote to put somebody who "Abhors the Militar" in as the Commander in chief of the Greatest Military machine in the world. Boy was I wrong.

Yes, I vote. Absentee several times, but I've only missed a couple of elections since I was 21.

I think each vote counts. I've already said too much about our Voting machines, but I intend to keep on Voting, and trying to persuade others to vote like me.

 

I vote and I vote whenever I can cast a informed vote. Meaning if I don't know a thing about the canditates, I shouldn't vote for them. To do otherwise would be reckeless. This is possible in some elections. Does everyone know a anything about the judge that you vote for? I'm sure some do and that is good.

George Bush Sr wasn't fired, he just plain quit. It was obvious that he had no heart in a 2'nd term. Ross had passion and desire. I voted for him and as a result handed the election to the smuck. I wanted to vote for GB but like I said he didn't want it. I am glad RP didn't get in. I was mortified that the smuck did.

A liberatian doesn't have a chance in hell at the national level. I say this based on the House and the Senate. One side may detest the other (Republican/Democratic) but they will not deal with a liberation or any other party. Besides, I think we can have effective change with two parties. Adding more will not solve the problem. Look at what happened in Florida. Having so many differant parties was part of the problem.

 

I vote and I think it makes a difference. It's a shame that here in California some folks don't bother to vote once the election returns are announced from the rest of the country where the polls are already closed.

I usually vote 'no' on the ballot initiatives though. Most of them are just 'feel good' legislation that gets politicans a lot of face time, but doesn't really solve any social, economic or criminal problems.

 

Yeah guys and gals, vote every election, but as noted before-only if I'm armed with knowledge of who, why and what they stand for. One very nice thing here in PA, we've got motor-voter. Everytime you renew your driver's license or non-driver ID card, you are registered for the duration of your license or ID, to vote. I think more states should do this. We now also don't have to vote in every election to stay registered. When I was quite a bit younger and would work crazy hours, missed one local election and lost my registration, had to go to the county couthouse to re-register (of course the only time I could get there was while working), this would be everytime you missed an election-often thought they didn't want workin' folks to vote so we'll see how difficult we can make it for 'em! It seems to me that the results in Fl. would be enough to sway folks to realize each and every vote can and does make a difference! Also, if you didn't vote-keep your mouth shut when it comes to "bashing" or laws are made that you don't agree with, whoever may be in office, obviously you didn't care enough when the time to vote came, so now you've got no say, other than "next time I will make a difference and vote". And sorry, "I choose not to choose" just doesn't cut it with me unless you go vote and decide not to pull any levers or punch any holes in a ballot-then you have made that choice-write in "none of the above", which I have done already, and you can't do that from in front of the tv in your arm chair. Always do feel bad that the results are "forecast" by the media, makes the folks out west feel like they don't or can't make a difference and often wondered if they couldn't "shift" the poll open\close times to make them closer across the country, a little later on the east and earlier on the west.

 

I was in Alaska the year the election results were announced so early. A lot of Alaskans went ahead and voted for the Libertarian cnadidate. I think his name was Anderson.
As a result of the early announcment, the Libertarian candidate got enough votes to get the Federal Aid that the Popular candidates get.

That announcment came before we got off work. If it hadn't been for local issues, there wasn't any reason for any of the Alaska and Hawaii voters to go to the Polls for that year's election.

 

 

We voters care a LOT, it's the Government that doesn't seem to value the votes. They had people voting 75 times EACH in California and Massachusetts, outright BUYING votes from bums in Minnesota, and one election was proven to be swung by Illegal Aliens voting (Sanchez, I think) and they let it slide. We need to insist on better monitoring, and a thumbprint check or something similar. The technology is available. The thought that any one of these crooks succeeded in canceling out my vote tees me off even more.