When I was in the seventh grade I voted in a mock presidential election along with the rest of my social studies class. As a result, and apparently some type of reward, we all received a small, round sticker upon which the words "I VOTED" patriotically stood out in bright-red, bold letters.
Looking back at it now, I can only think how incredibly silly those stickers were.
I've come to realize that, despite what we might have been told in middle school, voting is not a duty to be fulfilled. You don't have an obligation to vote, and you're not doing anyone else a favor if you do. Voting is simply an amoral right that you can choose to exercise. So if you decide not to vote it doesn't mean that you're a bad person. It simply means you had better things to do that day-and there's nothing wrong with that.
I think that people vote when they perceive the benefits of voting to be greater than its costs. As a result, a great majority of Americans will not bother to visit the polls in the upcoming election, while the voting booths in, say, Yugoslavia, will certainly have long lines in front of them for years to come. Why? It's not just about the U.S. candidates this year: The issue runs deeper than Governor George W. Bush's and Vice President Al Gore's similarities.
In this country, who gets elected as the next president traditionally doesn't have a great impact on people's lives. Of course, the great irony here is that who gets elected to be the next American president has a great impact on the lives of citizens of other countries. Living in 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. brings with it not just a slew of naive interns but also command over the most powerful military in the world.
Still, to get back to the issue, I would contend that the apparent apathy of the citizenry in the United States is actually a great compliment to the founding fathers and the idea of checks and balances. People are so unafraid of the executive branch's power and the possibility of a tyrant emerging, that they don't even bother to participate in the selection of their leader. For many political theorists a land where the law is that strong and the politicians so constrained would be a dream come true.
The low voter turnout that will undoubtedly take place Nov. 7 is thus not to be lamented but re-examined. In an election that is procedurally fair and not the object of a significant boycott, a low voter participation is often a clear sign of a satisfied populace. And regardless of whether Americans are happier now than eight years ago the bottom line is this-the average American is pretty darn satisfied. The lights come on when he flips the switch, there's hot water for him to shower in the morning, inflation is almost non-existent, he can travel abroad at will, and, to top if all off, the TV offers him sixty different channels to choose from-simultaneously. Since, for most people, the upcoming election will in no way change these things the incentive to go to the polls and preserve what is rightfully theirs just doesn't exist.
That's why I think we need a campaign to keep some of the uninformed and the uninspired voters at home. We could call it the "Don't Vote Just for the Sake of Voting" campaign.
I'm not really concerned with those who vote because "it's the cool thing to do" as each year a few of them will wander into the voting booth and pull the levers as if by random. I'm concerned with those who vote so that they can later proudly display that last vestige of an otherwise atrocious seventh grade education-the "I VOTED" sticker.
As Chris Rock would say: "What you want, a cookie?!!"
Face it folks, voting is not an accomplishment. It's simply an expression of your belief that something needs to be changed and that a vote cast in a certain politician's favor will help effect that change. That's all-no glory, no rewards, no sticker.
So before you head out to the polls in two and a half weeks, ask yourself why you're even going. Will your vote express a strongly held political belief, send a message to the politicians, or reverse the public's opinion on the relative importance of a certain issue? Whatever the specifics, these are all sound and important reasons to stand in line and participate in the democratic process.
But if you're readying up for Nov. 7 because you think you should... then please don't vote.
Instead, take your soulmate out to lunch, send your mom some flowers or read a storybook with your kids as these tasks are much nobler than the fulfillment of some invented civic duty.
And don't worry about the presidential election, for the country will do just fine without your input.
After all, the Constitution was designed with people like you in mind.
Marko Djuranovic is a Trinity junior and Medical Center editor of The Chronicle.
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