Pie Holes

Do you vote?

This ought to be the first question that is asked of anyone who complains about the government. Solutions to problems don’t just happen by themselves – people must act. In this area, the action takes the form of making your political voice heard in the only place that counts: the voting booth.

During the 2008 election, only 64% of eligible voters actually voted, according to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau. This means that over one-third of eligible voters, roughly 75,000,000 people had better things to do on Election Day.  I used data from the U.S. Census Bureau to create all of the charts in this post.

Voter turnout is much higher during presidential elections, so we can expect far fewer citizen participants this November. Primary election participation is even worse, which makes no sense at all since primaries select the candidates for our respective parties. By skipping the primaries and waiting for the general election we significantly restrict our choices.

The 2008 election is said to have generated a “high” turnout.  I’ve chosen to focus on that election because I wish to demonstrate the apathy of our electorate when it’s at its best.

If you don’t vote you should shut your pie hole.

Elections matter because the results of elections have consequences – even for those who do not pay attention to politics. Your candidate may not prevail when all of the votes are counted, but you will at least know that you have done your part.

If you do not get your way, then, by all means, tell us about your displeasure. But if you choose to be a detached observer, you have only yourself to blame – so please do your suffering in silence.

In preparation for Election Day, I like to visit smartvoter.org. It’s a nonpartisan site run by The League of Women Voters. By entering your address in a search form, you can review your personal ballot. It’s pretty nifty, especially for information on local races. From there, you can follow links to learn about candidate biographical information.

The primary elections in Pennsylvania will be held on Tuesday, May 18TH. The closest race on my ballot is the Democratic primary for the Senate seat currently held by Arlen Specter vs. Joe Sestack. Most polls are calling the race even. It’s fairly certain that every vote will count in this race, as they did in the 2004 Presidential Election, in which George Bush won my county by a mere four votes.

An energized electorate is the best way to ensure that we are governed in the way we desire. It’s also the best way to celebrate our democracy while paying homage to all those who have sacrificed much to protect this right that we are privileged to have.

Registering to vote is easy.

Voting is easy.

Don’t make it easy for me to tell you to shut your pie hole.

Vote.

Tagged as: civic duty, close elections, election results, mid-term elections, monroe county, Pennsylvania, pie holes, primary elections, ray colon, raycolon, registered non-voters, the right to vote, unregistered voters

Author Bio:

Ray Colon has written 136 posts on Ray's Blog.

He works with numbers for a living, but don't judge - boring accountants need love too. His blog has no niche (unless writing about things that are important to him is a niche). Some folks cringe when he gets “all political” on them, but he does it anyway when he's in that kind of mood. Sometimes, he writes something nice about someone, but you shouldn't get used to that. His first book, the one he hasn't written yet, is not available on Amazon. Subscribe to Ray's Blog via RSS  or Email.

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