Is it Okay Not to Vote?

Tomorrow is the day for the midterm election in the U.S. You hear people calling other people to vote no matter what. If you are an American citizen and you do not vote, you just do not love your country, or at the very least, you are not fulfilling your duty.

If someone who supports one party wants people to vote for that party, I can understand why they encourage people to vote for that party. It is strategically right for these advocates to motivate and convince those who already like that party but may not make the effort to make a vote, and appeal to those who do not have a preference yet. But a lot of times this is not the case. Some celebrities, public figures and politicians just ask you to vote no matter what. Plus, some people had to fight for the right to vote in the past. How could you not treasure that?

The problem is, if you are not informed, how should you decide who to vote for? Let us assume that person X wants a legislator who will do things that benefit X and the community. X has to choose between two candidates and X does not have much knowledge about the candidates nor political, social and economic issues. It is impossible for X to learn all that quickly. Should X just listen to some of the superficial claims of the candidates, like "the other party is destroying jobs!" or "the other candidate wants to take away our rights!" or should X just not vote? These are the only two options. Ideally, X should just not vote. It would actually be rather irresponsible to make a vote not based on a well-informed and thought-through decision. X should just leave it to those who are informed.

Of course in reality, many people vote based on how they feel about certain policies, not how they think about them. Also people may vote based on how candidates present themselves, not what they think the candidates will actually do for the society. Even when people know very well what the candidates have been really advocating for, they may still not be educated enough to make a good judgement about what is right and what is wrong. All these are not optimal.

I do think that people should have basic knowledge about the society, politics and economics (1), but that is a long-term aspiration. In the short-term, it is more optimal that people do not vote when they are uninformed.

But if you think you can make good judgement, you should vote. It is not about making your voice heard. It is about striving to make a collective decision that will make the society better. One vote sure does not make a difference. But the paradox is that, if everyone thinks that, no one would vote and the democracy would not function. It would be like everyone thinking their taxes do not matter and not paying taxes. That would stop the government from operating.

So, do not feel guilty if you do not vote. And if you have decided to vote, do not force other to vote.

(By the way, the mentality that voting is an act of patriotism is less common outside of the U.S.)


1. This is one of the reasons why I have this blog.

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