Go Vote
There was some discussion at Reason's Hit and Run blog about whether it made sense for libertarians to vote. Here is my take: Even if you can't find any of the human beings on the ballot worth voting for, your state probably has a variety of propositions on the ballot. Unlike a people vs. people races, where both choices can suck, propositions generally have a "right" answer. On your ballot, someone is probably trying to raise taxes or restrict freedoms, or, if you are lucky, there is a proposition to limit government power in some way. Whatever the case, it's worth it to vote on them. I talked about my approach to propositions here.
Here was one eloquent response to the same idea:
Reason is an awesome blog and offers logical, well
articulated points of view. This is why I was so disappointed when I
saw so many staffers (including yourself) not voting in the upcoming
election. The idea that anyone's vote "doesn't count" is ridiculous and
slightly offensive. I will grant you that rarely, if ever, an election
of any sort is decided by a single vote, however in a country where
government is growing out of control on every level the limited
government folks need to show up, not so they can get their candidate
elected, or their issue passed or defeated, but to make their voice
heard. If even 5% voted consistently to limit government, one of the
two pro-government growth parties would have to take notice and at
least modify their platform a little to win those votes back, or risk
having a third player (heaven forbid) be considered as a potential
winner.I am more frustrated than anyone at the intrusion of
government into nearly every aspect of our lives, and the continued
growth of said intrusion. However, I think it is critical that I show
up at the poles and vote for every limited government candidate, and
vote down every tax-spend-regulate proposition offered.
Update: Done. Very easy. I know there was a lot of hoo-hah about showing ID's at the polls, but it felt pretty natural, especially since it is but one of about 20 transactions I make each week that requires an ID. I cast votes for members of three different parties, which surely puts me in a minority.
MesaEconoGuy:
Sorry, Coyote. Gotta disagree here.
Don’t vote. This ballot contained too many potentially dangerous propositions with unintended detrimental side-effects, most limiting personal or economic liberty in some form. Thanks to Democrat-controlled public schools, most people simply aren’t well-informed enough to be able to make informed judgments and vote accordingly given these conflicting measures.
The fact that it had so many propositions represents a fundamental breakdown in our representative republic.
I don’t want everyone voting, especially when so much is at stake, in so many complex issues, and neither should you.
November 7, 2006, 6:27 pmpereldan:
I have to agree with MesaEconoGuy, Coyote... many times the propositions are worded in such a way that you can't tell whether to vote "yes" or "no" if you don't want it to pass....especially down in Louisiana, and I've noticed the same trend up here in Pennsylvania....so even trying to vote against items you don't want can be as hard as trying to write in "none of the above" for the candidates on an electronic voting machine...I stopped voting when Louisiana made it so that in order to write in a candidate (or not vote for any of the candidates for a particular office) in my precinct, you had to absentee vote, because the electronic voting machines wouldn't accept your vote if you left one of the categories without a choice marked.
November 11, 2006, 3:30 pmSandy:
I voted for members of FOUR different parties, in this last election. (kinky Freidman has his own party if i recall correctly.) so there!
November 17, 2006, 6:09 pm