Have you always voted?

[fedupwithbush]

I have. It's been hard too. Where I live, I often have to pick from 2 Repugs. No Democrats to be found. I had the joy of voting for a Democratic governor this year, and a female to boot!

I've said in another thread that compromise is a daily thing in life. I've had to compromise my Democratic registration to vote for the least offensive many times.

But I voted. That's what counts in the long run. For anyone who held their vote back because the candidates had an R after their name, I have no respect for you. Life sucks, you do what you can. Sometimes it's the lesser of two evils. But if you don't vote, don't complain. You don't have a leg to stand on.

[HEyHEY]

1. Yeah

But next election up here is going to be TOUGH. Provincially anyway, either the totally incompetent NDP or the total not liberal, liberals...what's a dude to do?

[dorktv]

2. I vote for whoever I like...

for instance the town I live in has a wonderful liberal repuke as mayor so if he was running, I would vote for him.

[Scairp]

4. Always

I registered at 18 and have voted in every presidential election since. I am ashamed to admit though, that I didn't always vote in the local or state elections.

[LittleApple81]

3. YES, YES, YES...

But now with the BBV I am really discouraged!
I believe the right to vote should never been forsaken by the voters. Apathy does not help. I am a naturalized citizen and even in my country of origin, where the situation was already worse than here (there was no difference between the oligarchs running for office--no matter what they said their party affiliation was), I always voted for the lesser of two (or three) evils.

[jiacinto]

5. Are you in Kansas?

Anyway I have voted in every election since I registered. In 1998, when I was in Italy, I even voted. There was a competetive Governor's race between Glendening (D) and Sauerbrey (R) and I couldn't let that woman win, although it was nowhere as close as people predicted.

[fedupwithbush]

13. Yes, I'm from Kansas

We had insult placed upon injury in 2000. Bush declared he had won the Kansas primary. We had no primary. They decided not to because of money. Roberts and Tiahart are jokes to me. I've e-mailed them both. They kiss Bush ass daily. I e-mailed them shortly after Bush was installed and said he better not cram his ideology down our throat. The nation was split. It was a gray period. He chose the black and white road. But that's gonna change!!!!!

For those who say the votes will or may be fixed, yes, it's possible. I'll believe almost anything after Bush and Co. But I have to believe that if everyone voted, it would be impossible for someone as evil as Bush & Co. to win. 2000 made me sick. The Supreme Court is not supreme anymore to me. But I really would like to believe that if everyone had to vote, 2000 would have never happened. Even with vote-fixing machines.

[peaches2003]

6. Will my vote count anymore?

Yes, I have always voted. My first vote was cast for JFK and I have voted in every election since, national and local. However, for the first time ever I feel voting may just be a waste of time. The Bush family and friends are fully capable now of fixing elections. Anyone really think they are going to surrender power in 2004 and then in 2008 when they will demand the dynasty continue with Jeb? And no, I am not a conspiracy theorist- just looking at the 2000 election and what they have been capable of doing to this country since. By the time the country wakes up it will be too late.

[LittleApple81]

10. If you are asking me, yes. n/t

[kanrok]

7. Yes, I've always voted

In primaries, for dog catcher, whatever. Registered on my 18th b-day.

[Nikia]

8. I didn't vote for a while in college

My freshman year of college (1996 election), I had registered absentee in Ohio. I received the ballot in the mail the day before the election. According to Ohio law, the ballot must be received by the board of elections on election day by 7:00 p.m. I ended up paying ten dollars or so to have the ballot mailed overnight. I was very ticked off and didn't bother voting until the 2000 election because I was so angry about the whole thing.

[im4edwards]

9. of course, why wouldn't you ?

I mean really...

[laruemtt]

11. always -

even when it seemed futile or when it was voting between the lesser of two evils. i consider it a privilege and a responsibility. have never understood people who don't vote!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Yes, Dem in every presidential election since 1972

although I didn't start taking local and state elections seriously until the Repiggies in Oregon started pulling stunts like promoting an anti-gay initiative and trying to recall Governor Barbara Roberts for no particular reason while her husband was dying of cancer.

It was then that it dawned on me that local and state elections are just as important, if not more so, than the national ones. They are the elections that impact our daily lives and the elections in which a couple of votes either way can make a real difference.

If there is one point that I would like to get across to the "one vote doesn't make any difference so why bother" crowd, it's that one vote frequently does make a difference in local elections and that the decisions made in these elections can have far-reaching effects on one's life.

Since that time I have been a fervent voter, and it irked me when I had to miss one local election because I had to leave for Japan before the vote-by-mail ballots were available. When I came home, I was relieved and delighted to see that most of the people I would have voted for had won.

[rbnyc]

14. Yes, all local and national primaries and general elections...

...since I was 19. I've only missed 2 primary elections in all that time.

:D

[candy331]

15. This

will be my first time voting. I never really saw the need to do so because I felt it didn't matter because one vote couldn't make a difference. But now I think that if things can't be turned around by getting true leadership in offce that we may be facing the end of this nation and perhaps the world. Just my take on the matter, so I will vote and hope.

Fairly new to DU and brand new to voting!