Vote 2014

Today is the day to vote here in America. So go forth, use your power to decide the fate of the country. I’ll wait.

Okay, now that that’s done let’s talk about the absurdity of this whole voting thing. I have before me 27 different elections to vote in today. Governor, Lt. Governor, Senator, Representative, State Senator, State Representative, Attorney General, Supreme Court, Civil Court Judge, Criminal Court Judge, County Judges, Railroad Commissioners, etc etc. As much as I like democracy this is crazy.

I’m a fairly informed voter and I don’t know what half these positions do. Making an informed decision about this many people is unrealistic. Most people can’t make an informed decision about a Presidential election, but a Railroad Commissioner?

This leads to party-line voting, which is another major problem. I personally hate the two party system. No two parties can ever represent an entire country. Especially when you’re electing judges, why should their party affiliation even come into play? But, because we elect half a dozen of them at a time, its pretty much all that matters.

I generally lean Green party. It’s not a perfect match but its the closest we have. But I live in Texas. A Green party candidate is never going to be elected. Especially in my gerrymandered district (and it’s actually a little better than it used to be).  If I want to vote any third party in, the only one with a shot is Libertarians. While I agree with a few of their points, a Libertarian I know put it best by saying even she doesn’t want a Libertarian in power. You don’t give power to people who think the whole system shouldn’t exist.

Of course, we’ve done that with a bunch of Tea-Party Republicans already. Since any vote for a third party is essentially a vote for a Republican in my district, I’m forced to vote Democrat. I agree with many of their points but not all. And because of the two party system, they really aren’t much different than Republicans in a lot of ways.

Not a lot that can be done about that now. 2020 election will be a big one as that’s the next chance to redraw district lines. We have six years to completely change the make up of state government so that they can redraw the lines and change the voting system to a proportional system instead of winner takes all. Just need to figure out how to do that.

For now, just go vote. The system isn’t perfect and kind of terrible at times. But it’s better than no vote at all. Be as informed as you can manage and make your choice. Because not voting isn’t a vote of protest, its a concession of defeat.