benzado

Why you need to vote

ohhleary:

When I went to my polling place this morning, the polls had already been open for two hours.

In those two hours, I was the fourth person to vote in my district. My district is the largest one at my polling place. It has two thick books of voter rolls. And in those two books, I was only the fourth person to sign my name in two hours.

At that same polling place last November, I stood in line for an hour and a half to vote for President. Yet the President has no jurisdiction over traffic safety, city term limits, congestion pricing, how often my trash is picked up, how much I pay in sales tax, whether I have rights if my landlord is negligent, or city corruption. These issues impact my neighbors a lot more than what the President can do. What makes this election so much less important?

Complacency is why we keep the status quo. It’s why we have a government that works for special interests and not for us. It’s why we have politicians who vote against the interests of their district, yet continue to be re-elected.

In most races in New York City, the primaries are more important than the general election. In some races today, the winner of the primary is already the winner of the general election. Yet four people voted in two hours.

Please, do the research and vote. Even if you don’t think you care, you should.

I think the primary excuse of intelligent people is that they don’t feel like they know enough to make an informed decision.

To them, I say: STOP HOLDING YOURSELF TO A HIGHER STANDARD THAN THE DUMB PEOPLE WHO VOTE IN EVERY ELECTION!

Dan’s “do the research” link, which makes it sound like homework, takes you to the Gotham Gazette’s Guide for the Last Minute (Primary) Voter. It was written for you. But if you don’t have time to read it, just go to your polling place, sign in, and pull the lever without making a choice for any race. Or vote for candidates at random. Just get to the polls this time, and we’ll worry about being perfectly prepared next year.