Election day is nearly here. In fact, I would bet most of us in Oregon have already voted.

People give a few reasons why we should vote:

• Vote now or shut up later
• Voting is your best chance to change the government
• Voting is your civic duty

I’m not convinced I agree with any of them.

• You don’t give up your right to participate in democracy when you don’t vote. You only give up one avenue.
• Voting might not be your best opportunity to effect change. Depending on where you live, your vote is unlikely to have any impact. A better way to make a change might be to work to change how campaigns are financed. Another good idea is to email your representatives. Because so few do so, you have a disproportionate voice.
• I’m not sure I buy into the duty idea. Maybe if those elected acted like they had any duty, this would be more convincing.

Use the election season as an opportunity to educate yourself on the issues.¹Or, don’t educate yourself. Just be sure to vote this coming Wednesday. :-p Spend some time with your voters’ pamphlet. From there, it’s only a little more effort to vote.

Might as well… ;-)

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  Or, don’t educate yourself. Just be sure to vote this coming Wednesday. :-p

November 6 is election day. Prove Christopher Bryan and his colleagues right.¹“A new study by social psychologist Christopher Bryan and his colleagues at Stanford University shows just how easily people can be manipulated using their own vanity; by doing nothing more than changing the word “vote,” to “voter,” on a survey, Bryan et al, have demonstrated that it’s possible to increase voter turnout in real-world elections.” (Source.)

Or don’t.

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  “A new study by social psychologist Christopher Bryan and his colleagues at Stanford University shows just how easily people can be manipulated using their own vanity; by doing nothing more than changing the word “vote,” to “voter,” on a survey, Bryan et al, have demonstrated that it’s possible to increase voter turnout in real-world elections.” (Source.)