Vote. Vote! Please vote! Make sure you vote! Voting is here! There's nothing more important than voting. VOTE! No more certain sign that we're approaching the end of an election year than every single ad on Youtube telling one to vote, or every other social media post urging people to vote, or political leaders coming out everywhere telling everyone to vote. This year's new line: "Make sure you have a voting plan."
I don't vote in local elections, and the only time I have ever voted is during presidential elections, in 2016 and 2020. I don't deny that voting is an important part of the democratic process, but on an individual level it is hard to feel that important, knowing there are millions of other votes out there, and my vote would be easily neutralized. Especially this year, I think telling people to vote has become a way for politicians to make citizens feel powerful and "make your voice feel heard," when in reality one politician's influence is much stronger than one individual person's vote. It's like passing the buck to the ordinary citizen and blaming them if anything goes wrong. Barack Obama just blamed voters for not having enough votes to get substantial progressive legislation done during his presidency. Democrats are blaming voters for not being able to stop Amy Coney Barrett to be confirmed on the Supreme Court, and using the event as fuel for people to go vote. Well no, I don't think that's on the voters to stop the Supreme Court nomination....it seems too much like an extended infomercial about a miracle product that can cure all evils......we can have healthcare, peace on Earth, better air quality, social justice, and all the good things this world has to offer, if we just go and vote! And then after the vote is over, they'll just go about their lives like nothing happened since they've already gotten what they wanted out of the voter (kind of like being the charming prince during a first date, having a one-night stand at the voting booth, and then ghosting voters forever).
It's pretty deflating actually when you do go out and vote.... and your candidate loses (like Hilary Clinton for me in 2016). Was my voice heard? The majority system of winner-take-all in America is pretty draconian and doesn't allow room for the minority, so sometimes voting isn't the cure-all and be all, especially if you're in the minority of people. Oh and also, there are a lot of people who can't vote...like MJ, so voting doesn't really even reflect all the people in the country.
That tirade against voting aside, I did go vote yesterday at my local public library as part of early voting, a useful tool being applied this year due to Covid and avoiding long lines on actual election day, a week from today. I would be in favor of extending early voting for the future: I personally knew whom I was voting for, at least for President of the US, way before early voting even began. If I wasn't sure, I still could wait until the last day, but let others who are certain go before me. The whole process reminded me of taking the SAT or LSAT exam: you check in on the front desk after havng registered for the exam/ the vote, they give you a sheet that looks a lot like a scantron with questions and bubbles to fill in, and you go to a desk/booth and fill in the bubbles like a multiple-choice exam. Some bubbles had the typical 4 choices, like US Senate: Thom Tillis (Republican), Shannon W. Bray (Libertarian), Cal Cunningham (Democrat), Kevin E. Hayes (Constitution). Cunningham was in the 3rd slot normally reserved for answer choice C, so like taking a guess at the LSAT I guessed that the right answer was C!
The President slot had 6 slots, but also a write-in spot: None of the Above! (you can write in Kanye West this year, not recommended). I only got through the first column before I stopped knowing who the candidates were anymore: I should have studied more! On the SAT they tell you don't guess if you're not sure, so I left a lot of answers blank and turned in my answer sheet in record time. The voting officer at the scanning booth to scan my answers even reminded me that there was a back side, which I had left blank. A wonderful reminder for the SAT! But not for voting, as I had intentionally left the back blank since I had no idea who anyone was. I took my fancy free pen for voting (yay!) and "I voted" sticker so I could take a selfie of myself and post it on social media showing that I was a good person for having voted. (This is probably the earliest form of virtue signaling). Did I feel great after voting? Yes because I could check the task off my to-do list and allieve the social guilt of not voting, but did I feel empowered, like I made a difference in the world, that I can do anything I want to do? No, I felt like a number in a few hundred million numbers waiting to be counted. No one from the government is going to call me about why I voted, not going to ask me what my concerns are about the country, about what I want done. They'll only know that I prefer Joe Biden (maybe even barely) above any of the other presidential candidates.
I also didn't mention the few campaigners right outside the voting office who were advocating for various advocates. An organization called the People's Alliance (PAC) stopped me right before I went in and asked me to consider voting for their candidates, handing me a green peace of paper with their "suggested candidates to vote for" so I could have it when going into the voting booth. I checked it out: every single bubble on the mock ballot was filled for a Democrat. Another gentleman with a "Vote Suzie Smith" sign asked me to vote for his daughter Suzie for one of the district office seats, that he would greatly appreciate it. Is this type of last-minute influencing good for the democratic process? I felt like I was going to Target and outside the store there were people selling girl-scout cookies, trying to get my vote just like trying to get my money. There are probably enough people who get convinced by this people right at the door and subverts the whole fair democratic process....to me it just highlights the various flaws this supposedly sacred process of voting, this one right and responsibility that every American citizen has. I'm not saying don't go vote, but don't hype it up to be something that it's not.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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