Wouldn't that be illegal--acase of vote buying? Sure, no one is asking a person to vote for a certain candidate, just not to vote. But if you target, let say Republicans, it still has the potential to affect the election.Let's just play with this for a second. If someone came up to me and offered me an iPod Touch in exchange for a pledge to not vote in the next election, would I take up the offer? I'm not gonna lie to you, I'd do it. In heartbeat. Why? Because am so disgusted with the choices presented.
First, I'm pissed that Michigan is going to have their delegations to the Democratic and Republican conventions cut. All the Democrats and half of the Republicans will be prevented from voting. And even though it doesn't really affect me because I refuse to vote in primaries, I hate the idea that the leadership in both parties are willing to screw over Michigan voters who do.
Second, neither party has got a candidate that I really like. If I put on my pragmatic hat, for me, I'd rather have a Giuliani and Hillary at the top. It leaves me with the feeling that we are scrapping the bottom of the barrel. Well I wouldn't say Rudi is scum, just not the best fit for me.
Third, assuming I'm still in this voting district come election day, there's not going to be any seat up for a vote that I'll have to worry about. Aside from the MI House district, all the seats from MI Senate to US Senate are safe for the respective parties that currently hold them.
So in the end, my vote has little chance of determining anything. It's a horrible thing to say considering how special the right to vote is but that on top of not wanting to touch any politician with my voter's pick, but I'd really go for the iPod.
The article also mentioned that some would give up their vote for the rest of their lives if the price was right. Now that, I'm very confident, I would never do. Rest assured though, I will be voting in the next election with a protest vote. There I said it. But I reserve the right to take it back.
5 comments:
Oh! Oh! I'll take the iPod, just don't tell them I'm Canadian and don't get to vote!
Steven ; )
Did they poll a sampling of *all* NYU students or NYU students who frequently vote in elections? I'd venture to say that this is a very important distinction because many of those 20% could never have voted anyway in their lives.
@Steven: Sure you can. Scan the obituaries the night before the election and then use that person's identity. It's not like they are going to ask you for identification or anything. But, I really can not condone technology transfers to other countries. Can I direct your attention our Fifth Generation iPod?
@Zac: Hopefully the pollsters took a worthwhile stats course before they went ahead and did the polling.
I personally feel that voting is something we should all do.
^To what extreme, John? Every election? For every office?
For instance, I refuse to vote in primaries because to do so would say that I am a member of some party. I can help determine a Republican candidate but not a Democratic candidate? I refuse to buy into that load of BS which is why I only vote to fill actual seats.
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