Monday, November 3, 2008

My Vote Doesn't Count

I am tired of listening to people say their vote doesn't count. That the Electoral College chooses the President no matter what the popular vote is. It is balderdash!

Yes the Electoral College determines the Presidency, but do you really know how that works? Other than what you learned in high school?

We saw in 2000 Al Gore win the popular vote but George Bush win the election. Just like in the Primaries where one candidate receives a certain number of delegates based on the voting percentage, that is how the electoral college works, sort of. If you "win" the state, you win their electoral votes. And unlike all men, all states are not created equal, they are each assigned a certain number of electoral votes as per Wikipedia: "Each state has a number of electors equivalent to its total Congressional representation (in both houses), with the non-state District of Columbia receiving three electors and other non-state territories having no electors."

That being said, it all breaks down to simple math. I know "I HATE MATH"! Not me, mon petit, I lurv math!

So, in order for your candidate to win your state YOU have to go vote for him/her! It really is that simple. To put it in even simpler terms, the difference in Florida in 2000 was 537 votes. 537, is an unimaginably low number. Can you imagine if 538 more people had decided to vote that day and voted for Gore? Our world would be entirely different, yes our World not just our Nation! Are you one of the 538 that didn't vote?

Do you still think your vote doesn't count?

I have been very vocal this election. Mainly because I truly thought for a long time that my vote wouldn't count. I would cast it that was not the question, but the events in my life lately have led me to believe that my vote would be legally disenfranchised.

Just last week I found out that wasn't the case, that my circumstance did not warrant disenfrachisement. I can not tell you how long I cried knowing that my vote would count. That my voice would not be squashed. That I can exercise my right and privilege to cast my vote for our next President.

I can not say it loud enough or often enough. I don't care who you vote for, that is your personal opinion. But I do care that you VOTE!

Cross posted at BlogHer

2 comments:

  1. MY VOTE DOES NOT COUNT!!
    I am a conservative in La La Land. Whether I vote or not, the results of a presidential election in La La California is predetermined, thanks to the electoral college system. I would prefer a system like Nebraska (and one other state?) that awards it's electoral delegates proportional to the popular vote, not all to the majority. With that system ALL votes would count even that of a conservative in La La Land. Even so, I DID vote.

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  2. I could not agree more. The electoral college is a crazy way of picking a president. It should be more closely tied to the popular vote.

    While you are at it, Uncle John, can you get the primaries to work consistently across the country in a similar manner.

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