I did not vote.
Part of this was because until earlier in October I was not sure which state or country I'd be residing in today. I wound up staying put, but that wasn't settled until recently. Despite living in DC for three years, I do not feel like a DC resident. I am transient (like many DC residents) and I don't want to influence how I think this city should be run. That's for people who actually feel like DC is their home. If I could, I would have opted for an absentee ballot for Illinois as I was a Cook County resident for 27 years before moving here.
But none of that really matters, as between DC and Chicago it's not like my vote would have counted anyway. Those are the parts of the country that Obama will win his largest margins. Illinois and DC went blue the last two elections and they will go deep, deep blue today. I am confidant that my vote would not have mattered.
But I wish it did.
Wouldn't it be fantastic if every vote really counted? If you didn't have to live in a purple state to decide the election? Wouldn't it be great if my vote really could have made a difference?
I think so.
Tomorrow after the dust settles, I plea for voting reform!
- National Standards. While every state is different, voting is not something that should be. We should expect the same thing every time we vote. Whether this means mail-in voting like Oregon or each state having the same secure voting machines with a paper trail, I do not know. However, we need standards so that I don't feel like we need international monitors coming in for all of our elections.
- Hot or Not.I read this first in Salon.com and agree completely. A weighted voting system that would allow people who are radical (like me) to vote for the person they really want without worrying that they will let the bad person rather than the not-so-good person win. We could then finally have an avenue for third parties in this country that have a viable chance of winning (which is an important part of a functioning democracy in my opinion).
- Abolish the electoral college. One person, one vote!
- Easy registration! Opt-out, not opt-in!
And that's just the beginning. If we have polling places we have to make sure there will not be long lines or a long wait. There should be early voting in all elections.
I'm not saying that everyone should get lazy like I did. I wish I had known sooner where I'd be living (and that it wasn't here). I'm not sure if my dreams will ever near reality as making way for third parties would be bad for Republicans and Democrats while making voting easy would be bad for Republicans. I actually don't care about parties, I care about how this country is doing and want the best person for the job! So next time, let my vote count America!
P.S. If I stay here in DC, can you also give us representation? It's not like I will have any say, on a representative level, if any of those above wishes come to the House or Senate. No taxation without representation!