This week I filled out my ballot.
When I arrived here in New Home 2.0, I did something I had never done in my life: I registered as "not declaring a party". This was a conscious choice on my part; after a life time of belonging to one party or the other and being satisfied with neither, I thought I would take a break for partisan politics, at least for the primary elections.
Turns out that if you do not have a party affiliation, your ballot is pretty empty.
There were a slate of local judges with no opponents. There were two or three local people (e.g., county commissioners or local bodies). A single proposition.
Even with reading the ballot, it took less than 30 minutes total.
The local positions were the most interesting to read. Each had four to five folks running for each position, the current incumbent and the challengers. The incumbents were easy to identify - not just because of the fact it listed their current position, but all of the organizations that were at the bottom of their statement in support of them. It was nice to see a healthy challenger pool, even as I suspect that the incumbent will win again, because that is how it works.
(As a side note, the incumbent positions were a marvel of somehow listing everything that they had done along with the fact that there was still so much that was unsatisfactory, yet somehow they are not to blame.)
The proposition was, of course, a tax increase - a fuel tax in this case. I have reached the point in my life where I vote these down every time.
Do I regret not "picking a side"? Not really, to be honest. It certainly simplified my primary season. Arguably voting for my most local of officials is the most impactful thing I can do (my state and federal officials are likely far less determined by my vote).
The anger, the rage, the "the other side is Satan incarnate" will come soon enough. For now, finding my peace unruffled and my mailbox delightfully free of campaign ads is the sort of thing I would like to see more of.
Good for you TB, exercising your civic right. Whenever I see election results I wonder if the number of votes match the number of registered voters or exceed them eh?
ReplyDeleteNylon12, I am probably the worst sort of voter: I vote and then tend to not follow the results. Likely I will not know who "won" the local elections I voted in (other than if the incumbent is re-elected, of course).
DeleteThere is no side, they are two wings of the same vulture. The voting ritual is mean to pacify the people for the indignations the (*ahem*) 'elite' foist upon the plebes. Oooh, if only your side had voated harderer, you wouldn't be getting fucked in the ass by politicians (from the 'other' side) right now. Nobody ever bothers to notice, it doesn't matter who's side wins, nor who is in power, the common denominator is We The People taking it sans lube!
ReplyDeleteBut keep playing the game and thinking things will get better. The trajectory is patently clear to anyone bothering to pay attention.
Anon - Everyone is certainly free to do as they please. If not voting works for some, that is certainly their option.
DeleteVoting is a civic duty, politics is a king-of-the-hill game. The trick is finding someone to vote for who actually understands they have civic responsibilities as an elected official. Nowadays that seems doubtful, as I don't reckon they teach civics in school anymore.
ReplyDeleteLeigh - Elected officials seem more concerned (in general) with furthering their own agendas or occasionally the agendas of their constituents.
DeleteIt is difficult to believe, for example, that the entire United States is "represented" by 535 individuals. That is (given the population today) one representative per 650,467.3 individuals. I suspect this is not the sort of representative and responsive government the Founders envisioned.
I had the same thing happen to me in California. When I declared myself "independent," thinking that would give me a ballot with all candidates. Wrong. "Independent" meant the Independents only. I found that in California, I needed to indicate "decline to state" when registering to vote. And those who inhabit the Sacramento Home For the Deranged," otherwise known as the State legislature, DO NOT want people to know this. Do some digging at your end. I believe you said the "New Home" is in what we call "California with rain and a high suicide rate." There's probably some kind of word salad deception at play there as well.
ReplyDeletePete - Interesting; I had not thought about that. Perhaps after this election cycle I will consider that. Although outside of my local elections, I suspect my vote is of minimal importance.
DeleteI have gone your route in the past but for the last 15 years or so have registered for one of the big two parties just so I could take a more active role in the primaries/caucuses and get the whole experience. I’m at the point where I would be happy going back to being unaffiliated but the path of least resistance is not doing anything. During the last caucus, I was the sole vote in my district that wasn’t for the current occupant. Everyone was aghast. I thought it a badge of honor.
ReplyDeleteEd - Interesting and I do understand the thought process: it is better to have an active role better than none at all. It is indeed the path of doing nothing; at the moment, my mental state seems to be more critical.
DeleteThat said, I admire you for re-entering the fray.