Do you vote?

No box for an unqualified Yes?

YES

Sorry, that was a mistake. The "yes" option is there now.

Y'know, I think you'll find that a larger % of A2K'ers will vote, than the at-large population. Think about it... you've gotta be literate to talk on a bullitin board...

(although, maybe you don't have to spell...)

Sometimes i do, sometimes i don't. It usually depends more on local issues during the mid-term elections (for Wilso, mid-term elections is a term here which means the election of Representatives to the House in the middle of the four year term of the President--at that time, all the seats in the House of Representatives are at issue, and one third of the seats in the Senate, where members sit for a six year term). During Presidential elections, i usually vote, unless it appears hopeless, as when Ray-gun was up for re-election, and the Democrats couldn't find their collective ass with both hands and a wall chart.

The UK has voluntary voting also. I have voted in all the General Elections (national vote for Members of Parliament every 4-5 years) since I turned 18, but haven't bothered with the local elections (for councillors).

I never voted when I lived in the states, but if I was still there, this would have been my first time. Now that I'm in Canada, I vote here.

Voting is compulsory in Oz? How does that work? How do they audit and enforce it?

Wonder if that would be a good idea for the US...

yes

You're bound to get a high percentage of voters in A2K -- we are pretty much here, discussing, wrangling, because we're engaged in the process of which voting is a part. Yes, I vote, and have always voted, even during the two decades I didn't live in this country.

I not only vote, I sent my son (in London) his absentee ballot and the voter information pamphlet so he could vote and make an informed choice. It cost me $9 to mail and will cost him a surprisingly large amont to mail it back. He's only 19 but we think it is an important right and duty in this house and want to pass that along to our children.

I vote. I am glad that it isn't compulsory. Even a non vote is a vote for the status quo, but compulsory votes by apathetic voters may seem like a mandate.

I always vote. Since I turned 18, I have voted in every election - municiple, provincial and federal.
Canada's political system is more like Oz but It's not mandatory to vote, yet.

I vote. I believe it's a requirement if you want to talk about things afterward.

You didn't vote? I am not going to listen to you. And I will ask you if you voted.

I vote in the Federal elections and now vote in the local stuff. I didn't vote in local elections while I was in the military and not in the actual area. It seemed disingenious to cast a vote when I had no way of knowing what the issues were or what was going on 2000+ miles away.

Wow, so far it is 100% yes! Cool.

Fishin' -- I don't understand... wouldn't you be able to read up on the issues? Or were you unsure about whether you were going to return?

Hiya Piffka! Most of that time was pre-Internet and I'd have to rely on one weekly newspaper from the old home town if I could get someone to send them to me. If I could do that I could see what the politicos were saying the issues were but that didn't really help me get a feel for what the people living there thought the issues were.

By the time the Internet becaume useful I had decided that I wasn't going back to that town so that played into things too.

Fishin' - I see. Yes, that makes sense. I've sometimes wished I could still vote in Seattle for city positions instead of what I'm allowed... only the county issues.

Is my state alone in sending out detailed voter information pamphlets? It's a great source and what I mostly rely on for real campaign information since it offers pro and con statements for issues and room for each candidate to give a spiel. These are mailed to every voter. It is free campaign advertising for candidates who, at least here, take it as seriously as what they pay for... free printing, free mailing and totally targeted. That's what I sent to my son along with his ballot.

Sure, I vote.

Being able to vote and to choose your representatives, among several options, is a privilege many people struggle for. Some of them give their lives.

I was 25 the first time I voted.

I could have "voted" before, for any of the parties that carried the official candidate (who ran against himself).