BNuge : pretty much same here.

If people don't vote, then why complain?
If you don't participate in it, then seems absurd to whine how bad things are.
I didn't care about politics when I was underage also, but as I've seen,
it changes with time. Maybe the age limit should be brought up to 21 actually.
Too young and hasty in politics is a bad combination.

I just turned legal last year, and I'm excited to vote. I'm Canadian, and our politics are incredibly boring and ineffective, and it seems like every party will lead our country in the wrong direction, be completely unproductive, and assist the rich in getting richer and the poor in getting poorer, whilst making false promises and unrealistic goals. But if I vote, then I'm justified in complaining about the way things are run if my party doesn't win.

As for my view on American politics, the republicans are the sith, and even with a democratic president the republicans will still be running things from behind the scenes. As the majority of members on this site are American, I won't express my full views on American government as I believe it would offend many. I have little against the American people, but the politics and government are very displeasing to me.

Because your vote means nothing in the Presidential election when the electoral congress decide how your state vote.

BTowns : I would love to hear your full opinion, feel free to PM me any time.

And you realize the popular vote determines where the votes from the electoral college go right? The citizens of a state have to vote for a candidate, and the one who gets the most votes in that state wins the electoral college vote. Also 9 times out of 10 the winner of the popular vote is also the winner of the electoral college vote... which is why the 2000 vote was so bizarre and made a lot of people pissed at the system (that and because Bush cheated)

i dont vote because i keep forgeting to register

I vote because as an American it is my duty....my one vote could make a big difference.

i honestly think theres no point in it. the poltical system is rigged anyhoo

I was not old enough until last year. Will register soon though. Its important to be well informed though.

I don't vote because I'm only 17 my birthday is in about 4 months.

I am old enough to vote but I don't want to right now because the people that have been voted in to any kind of office such as Law makers, congress or Judges or sheiffs or even the predent of the usa, Each office or head of state knows how to Wheild the Power
but do they know how to Control it and use it Skillfully?

My Answer to that question is " no, not yet"

I have not voted for years because it was not convenient for me to do so. I will next Pres. election if I am still working during the day, and I hopefully will.

Totts : I don't vote because I not only can't stand most of the candidates, but I also see voting as an action with a rather small, indeed near irrelevant, footprint and one that can be quite troublesome to do at that. Oh, and I don't wish to lend any kind of support, intentional/unintentional or true/false, to the state when I can easily get away with not doing so. Thankfully, voting isn't mandatory.

I don't vote because im not registered in my area, and also i don't complain about what my politicians do because i dont vote.

I usually vote in major elections, but sometimes I skip things like judicial elections or dogcatcher (any election where you don't really have enough information on the candidates).

I also abstained from a few elections in Louisiana where both choices were too repugnant (Orleans Parish DA in 1996 and state attorney general in 2003). I was at the polls for those because of other races on the ballot, but I left those elections blank.

Well I'm not 18 yet but when I turn that age I will not be voting cause I'm not into politics that much.

Apart from the fact I'm not old enough I know I wouldn't be bothered and their all the same they try their best to re-allocate government expenditure the reallocation always affects the economy and no matter what you invest in you still have the economic advisers that help all of our standards of living, so not only are they all the same I have better things to do like post on vizzed go to school or go out with friends

in conclusion screw politics it only causes arguments and heated debate its all nominal (opinion based) and I much prefer positive things (positive= economic term for hypothesis based on pure fact and evidence provides no opinion)

I would not be scooped in by the government and there is no use for it.

Elara : I hate when people say I can't complain because I didn't  vote. Out of all my close friends I am the most political aware by far, and I am one of the few that doesn't vote. Why should my political views be void just because I didn't put a check mark on a little piece of paper?

As BNuge put it "I do vote because it's the only small say I have in politics. If I'm going to complain about what the politicians are doing, then I also
like to be able to say that I didn't vote for them. " I don't vote for any of them but I am going to complain about them if I choose to. For instance, I complained about Bush all the time , but I am a Canadian and couldn't vote for him if I wanted to. By your logic I shouldn't be able to complain about him.

I used to vote when I still had faith in the system, but the last 5 federal / provincial elections or so (ya we have a lot of elections in Canada haha) I have decided not to vote. I feel that not voting represents my view of our political system better than voting for a representative that doesn't represent me or my views.

You said "Yes, there is a lot wrong with our system, but apathy won't change it." but I strongly disagree. Well I agree there is a lot wrong with the current system, but I definitly do not agree that apathy won't help change it. In Canada voter apathy in the 2011 election was just under 40% and has been steadily increasing since the 1980's, with 2011 being the third lowest in our history. With such a large amount of people not voting, it can't all be attributed to laziness. In my opinion it's just a matter of time before voter apathy becomes high enough that rest of the population realizes the entire system is flawed and needs to be reformed. There has got to be a tipping point somewhere, I mean if the majority of the population does not vote what does that say about the system?



This is chart is about Canadian Voter Turnout , the Trend line is particularly interesting.

smotpoker86 : If you complain about the job that someone in office is doing, and you had the opportunity to vote for the other candidate and didn't, then I don't think your complaint is valid compared to the person that DID vote. The concept works the same everywhere else, so why not here?

It's like saying that when your friends order a pizza and you decline to give your opinion on a topping that you are somehow justified in complaining when they get stuff you won't eat. You didn't voice your opinion. It is a really simplistic analogy, but it works.

My comment specifically was, however, that if you don't care about politics why are you posting in this thread? That if you have the opportunity to vote for something that you actually want, and you don't, why express or have that opinion at all since clearly it doesn't matter to you enough to do anything about it? In that context, apathy does in fact do nothing. Voter turnout has declined for us for decades but it changes nothing, and in most cases it is because the young people don't care enough to vote. If people actually voted, and actually did the research on candidates rather than vote along party lines, that would do more for change than not voting because it shows that people want the system to change. Not voting shows that you don't care, and they are fine with that because then the people that can change it do nothing and it keeps on as usual.