historyproject

I'm not sure where else this should go...so it's here.

For my history class, my teacher gave everyone a survey for people to fill out about voting. If you don't want to give certain criteria, then leave that part blank. Thanks!

Age -
Gender -
Occupation -
Town and state where you live(state only if you don't want to disclose town) -

1. Do you vote regularly? Why or why not?

2. Why do you think almost 50% of the voting population does not vote?

3. Do you usually vote a straight-party ticket or do you vote based on the candidate's issues? Are you a Republican, Democrat, or an Independent?

4. Should everyone be required to vote? Why or why not?

5. How important are television and other forms of campaign advertising in determining for whom you will vote? Explain.

6. Do people who don't vote have a right to complain about the government? Why or why not?

Kandahar

25
Male
Biologist
Baltimore, MD

1. Usually. Mainly to silence the people who would bitch at me if I didn't vote.

2. Some of them are just too stupid to understand the issues. Some of them assume (correctly) that their vote does not matter, and is not worth the effort of going to the polls or mailing in their ballot.

3. Always based on issues. If I don't know anything about any of the candidates in a certain election, I don't vote for any of them. I'm technically a registered Democrat (so I can vote in the primary if I feel like it), but I'm independent-minded and don't feel any allegiance or loyalty to the Democrat Party.

4. No, for two reasons. 1) I shudder to think who would get elected if the most ignorant people in the country were suddenly a sizable voting bloc, 2) Compulsory voting undermines the very idea of democracy.

5. Not very. I generally ignore the campaign ads, except to make fun of them or occasionally laugh with the more clever ones. But nationwide, they're very important, because a lot of people base their entire view of a candidate on those ads. A 30-second sound byte accusing one's opponent of adultery, corruption, or murder can win a lot more votes than a well-researched ten page position statement on an important issue.

6. Yes, they absolutely do have a right to complain. As I already mentioned, there's no real reason to vote other than social/psychological reasons. The odds of your vote changing the outcome of an election are, for all intents and purposes, zero. Even if an election did come down to a single vote, it would most likely be decided in a court. With that said, I have a lot of sympathy for people who don't want to waste their time voting. It would be like saying that everyone who doesn't have a $100,000 sprinkler system installed in their toolsheds has no right to be upset when it catches fire; the cost clearly exceeds the benefit, so there's no reason they should be expected to.

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Comrade Brian

1. No, only 2 parties will ever have power anytime soon, both suck.

2.Same as above, or too lazy.

3. If I voted it'd be issues, there are at least a dozen paries I'd see myself voting for. Independant. I don't belong to any US party.

4. No. Because there are better things to do then vote if you prefer a donkey or elephant in control.

5. I don't bother with stupid campaigns, the only ones I see are for pretty much the same party.

6. Yes, I don't vote because why would I, the party I'd vote for won't get elected anytime soon. So even if the person would vote it still wouldn't have made a difference. And besides, everyone should have a right to complain no matter what the subject is.

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debate_junkie

Age -30.. something

Gender - female

Occupation - Pennsylvania State Employee

Town/State - see above, otherwise I couldn't be a state employee.

1. Yes. Because my vote is my voice, and it stands to reason SUPPOSEDLY then my voice will be heard wherever I voted, however that isn't always the case.

2. Laziness, both in going to the polls, and researching the candidates. They figure they're vote won't count, why bother. And some just generally could care less about the political spectrum, it's all about "them".

3. I vote strictly issue based. I don't do party tickets, because in the end, all I'm doing is giving allegience to a particular issue that I don't agree with. I am a registered Republican, but like I said, I don't always vote that way.

4. Requiring someone to vote is as ludicrous as requiring someone to report for military duty. One has to want to, in order to take the task at hand seriously, IMO.

5. I get so sick of television ads. I don't want to hear what someone else has to say about a candidate. I prefer hearing it straight from the donkey's (or elephant's) mouth. 9 times out of 10, in television ads, the complete story isn't told, anyway, so yeah... gimme first hand, or not at all.

6. Absolutely not. Their silence is consent to give whatever candidate who gets in the permission to do whatever he/she plans to do. If they don't like the candidate, give a no vote. But don't dare say....This guy sucks.. when you preferred to ignore the election.

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tecoyah

.................................................. .

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Self-Banned

Hornburger

Age-17
Gender-Male
Occupation-Student/Target Employee
Location: Suburbs of Chicago, IL

1. No, because I'm 17. I plan to vote however, so I can help elect who is, in my opinion, the best candidate.

2. Because they either don't know the candidates, are too lazy to get out and vote, or don't feel their vote will make a difference.

3. I look at which candidate is most in-line with my political views. However, one party's candidates usually fit my views more than another's. For me, I'm a libretarian, but they'd never win, so Republicans will most likely fit my views more than a Democrat. So, although the political views of the candidate is most important, one party usually fits a person's views more than another party does.

4. No, if people voted who didn't know what was going on, that would bring down the political process as a whole, and its validity.

5. They aren't important, I tend to focus on what the candidate's truely believe and how they plan to act in their presidency.

6. Yes because they still have a rights that need to be protected by this country. They still should to have their opinions heard. There could have been reasons why the person didn't vote...they perhaps didn't want to waste a lot of time researching the different candidates and instead wanted to go on and improve their lives. When election comes, they didn't know much about the candidates, so they can't vote for someone whom they know nothing about. So although the person may not know about politics, they would know about the effects of such politics on them by their life experiences.

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"If you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain."
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historyproject

Thank you for your responses! I have all of the information I need now (between here and people I know). If you haven't replied, feel free to, but you probably won't be included in my project. Again, thanks for the quick replies!

Kandahar

Why is participating in a meaningless November ritual a requisite for being able to complain? Whether or not a person votes will not change the outcome of the election. I don't see any reason that someone should have to waste 30-60 minutes of their life (with nothing changing as a result) to be able to complain about the politicians.

Not voting doesn't necessarily mean that a person has no opinion. It just means that they see how meaningless their vote is.

The New York Times ran an op/ed about this very issue, a couple days ago. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/ma...syahoo&emc=rss

debate_junkie

Meaningless? yep, that word says it all. sit back and complain and whine "oh my vote won't count, why bother?" Well, if that's the attitude you or anyone else has towards our electoral process, complaining isn't going to make it better, is it? Nope, perhaps getting of one's ass, and stumping for a candidate of a third party? perhaps running one's self.... the options are endless. Should I complain if I don't like my job, or my level of education, and yet do nothing about it? Voting is at least saying who your choice is, and if your choice, doesn't win, so be it. There's always next election, isn't there?

hipsterdufus

I'm not sure where else this should go...so it's here.

For my history class, my teacher gave everyone a survey for people to fill out about voting. If you don't want to give certain criteria, then leave that part blank. Thanks!

Age - 42
Gender - Male
Occupation - Teacher, Musician, Landlord, Activist
Town and state where you live(state only if you don't want to disclose town) - PA
1. Do you vote regularly? Why or why not? Yes, I consider it a duty and a priviledge.

2. Why do you think almost 50% of the voting population does not vote?
a. Voter apathy
b. Voters feel unimformed about the issues and the people they wouod vote for.
c. Voters don't trust politicians in general and see little difference between the two major parties.

3. Do you usually vote a straight-party ticket or do you vote based on the candidate's issues? Are you a Republican, Democrat, or an Independent?
issues - democrat

4. Should everyone be required to vote? Why or why not?
no - I think people should be encouraged to vote, and that the process should be made easier not harder. These new voter ID cards are a way to supress voting especially from low-income citizens who are less likely to get the cards.

5. How important are television and other forms of campaign advertising in determining for whom you will vote? Explain.

Not very. I have a DVR and skip over all commercials (-: Seriously, I like to dig deeper into the issues and find out about the candidates posistions. I keep hoping that all of the negative ads will stop, but since the seem to be effective, I guess we will continue to have to put up with them. I also think those ads contribute to voter apathy and distrust of politicians.

6. Do people who don't vote have a right to complain about the government? Why or why not?
Sure! This is America. For example I can complain about FEMA's handling of Katrina even though it didn't hit my house. I can complain about the government's handling of one issue or another that may have happened before I was born.

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