www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Is there a duty to vote?

Here is a question I am throwing out for discussion. Is there a duty to vote? Is there a difference between Catholic and Orthodox views on this? And are there certain circumstances where one could personally feel a duty not to vote. For example:

1.) One abstains from voting to protest the lack of morally acceptable candidates or to protest against the current two party system. In other words, one is voting for "none of the above."

2.) One abstains from voting because one simply cannot reasonably decide which candidate to vote for.

3.) One abstains from voting because one is a committed Monarchist

4.) One abstains from voting because one realizes that statistically, the chances are practically nil that one's vote will actually count.

Are any of these reasons legitimate? Does one have to have a legitimate reason not to vote? Is not voting a sin?

Joe

This one drives me up the wall. I bet that within 3-4 degrees of separation I can find tens of thousands of people who think "mine is just one vote - what difference can it make?" Guess what happens when you add them all together? Depending on the type of election, even 50 votes can make a difference.

I love the Australian system where everyone is required by law to turn out on voting day. You don't even have to actually vote for anyone / anything - you can spoil your ballot. But at least under this system everyone is required to get involved.

Personally, I have no patience for the people who consistently moan about their elected officials, then reveal that they never bother to vote. If you want things your way get out their and get involved!

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I love the Australian system where everyone is required by law to turn out on voting day. You don't even have to actually vote for anyone / anything - you can spoil your ballot. But at least under this system everyone is required to get involved.[/quote]

Just curious, what happens if you don't show up?

It is a criminal offence not to participate, but at the moment I don't recall what the penalty is.

One can manage to find someone agreeable to vote for, even if only by casting a write-in. As to the argument that "my vote won't make any difference", I like to remember the words of Eugene Victor Debs: "I would far rather vote for what I want, and not get it, than vote for what I don't want, and be sure to get it!". No fool, Debs.

Fr. Serge

I got one vote for Missouri State Representative this year!

Guess who voted for me!

I was recently involved in an election. At the party afterwards waiting for the vote count, we discussed the possible scenarios. We joked that it would come down to one vote. We consoled ourselves with the knowledge that it wasn't like we were dealing with international votes so at least we would know that night no matter what. Then the phone call came. The two candidates were 3 votes apart. There were 5 outstanding absentee ballots coming from out of state and out of the country that had to be postmarked with that date and to arrive within 7 days. One of the votes depended on a burro coming down a mountain with the mail through a horrendous storm. Apparently the burro didn't make it because 4 of the 5 outstanding ballots made it in time. That burro determined the course of the election, which was lost by a single vote.

I take my right to vote seriously and wish others would as well. It is my desire for people who are uniformed on the issues to not vote. I'm fine with the people who care enough to inform themselves being the elitists who vote. I wish it were an accepted stance to take.

Look--if you don't care enough to know what's going on, why bother punching that straight party button just so you can get that silly sticker? I would be willing to bet that the majority of people who recently voted the same ballot as I did had no idea who on that ballot was crossing party lines banking on those straight party votes but not changing a single political stance.

Standing in line, I heard a doctor talking to her sister about her stance on county health care. Thinking she was up on the highly contentious ballot, I was happy to hear someone else following local news. Then I heard her lament that no one was talking about it and there was no candidate with her view. She was going to vote for Candidate N by default since she's voting straight party. I was so angry! This was the number one issue. Candidate X shared her opinion. Candidate N was opposed to her opinion. She voted for the person she didn't want because she didn't bother looking, oh, ANYWHERE to find out what was going on. Why is she voting?!

She said the only reason she was voting was because her pastor sent out an email telling all of them they would do so, and they would reply to him when they had. She didn't want to face the pastor on Sunday morning and tell him she didn't vote, so she slogged on up to the polls. (Several unrelated people in line said that they were there for the exact same reason!) This is an educated woman. A doctor. She's talking about her own field. And she knew NOTHING. The thought that these people are determining MY future is scary to me, really.