A non-voter and proud of it, or, Why are people mean to me?

[Bella]

A coworker friend and I came to the conclusion (seperately) that voting in the United States is a waste of time - not because we're liberals or conservatives, although she would technically be labelled a conservative and I a liberal, but because we think the process stinks and is a waste of our time and effort. We made buttons for our jackets that say "not voting in '04 (or ever)" and you wouldn't believe the shit that we've gotten for it.

First of all, you have the bleeding-heart liberals who grab my hand and say "don't you know what it was like for your suffragette sisters who gave their lives for your right to vote back in the early 20th century?" Yeah, yeah. So guilt me into voting. That will really do something. Then you have the other people (don't know if they're conservatives or not but they're definately 'other') who say "this is a great country and you're spitting in its face" or "you're not really a citizen of America." I recognise that America is a great country and I think I have my certificate in my safety deposit box that says I became a citizen on 21 March 1985, thank you very much.

What really grabs me are the people who say "geez, you're wasting your vote - just go out and vote for Bush/Kerry, so at least Kerry/Bush doesn't get your vote." Um, how am I wasting my vote if I don't vote, versus going out and voting for someone I don't want to be president just so I use my vote? It's like having a dollar and flushing it down the toilet versus spending it on a rotten apple - either way, you don't have your dollar, except that in the second situation you're stuck with a rotten apple.

I just don't understand how not voting is seen as such a huge smear against my character. I have the right to choose and I choose not to vote. Just because I made a choice that isn't popular and that some people think is "wrong" doesn't mean that I'm suddenly an irresponsible citizen. It's damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't: the Repblicans think that the Democrats are wrong and irresponsible and the Democrats think the Republicans are wrong and irresponsible. So where do we fit in?

We were asked to remove the buttons from our jackets, and two days later everyone else in the store had to remove their Bush/Kerry pins and other political items ("Real Women Vote!") or personal items from their nametags. At least the management was fair and evenhanded on the subject.