The stink of the political process is once again heavy in the air, meaning that the time has come to elect new people to positions of power. The midterm elections are fast approaching and with less than a month, you need to get the facts, figures and issues rolling around in your mind before you find yourself in the cold loneliness of the voting booth.
For some of you this will not be your first time participating in the democratic process. Others, however, will be casting their first of many ballots. Or maybe not.
Voter turnout among young adults has always been notoriously low. Generally, the 18-24 age group averages about 15 percent of the voter turnout.
So to help out the inexperienced, let’s break down voting and guide the youth through the joy of civic duty.
What is voting?
An excellent question. Imagine you’re locked in a reeking underground cavern filled with the paranoid, sinners, zealots and others that generally get off by beating people over the head with baseball bats. And you will not be allowed out until you decide what you’re going to do tonight.
You like to put your feet up and quietly watch the new season of American Idol. They like to split your head open with big metal spikes and play with your otherwise normal brain meat.
So you vote for television and everyone else, as far as you can see, get out their baseball bats and start sharpening metal spikes. That is voting.
Just kidding. That’s not what voting is; that’s just what it feels like after all the commercials. And, God, will the commercials come, at all hours, on every channel, all the time. The best part of any election is that eventually the television campaigns stop.
Voting is paramount
One of the greatest aspects of a state election is that we don’t conform to the Electoral College stystem where the one person gets all the votes of a state, even if the win comes by a small margin. A state election is a direct popular vote where your vote actually matters.
In California, the citizens don’t really need to cast their vote for the president because it is automatically assumed that the state will go to the Democrat candidate. Within the state election, a Republican candidate, if you are inclined, has a chance, see Arnold Schwarzenegger 2003-now.
Another benefit of voting in the state election is that a voter has greater influence over the individual happenings in the state; see upcoming columns for additional information. You can help decide on issues like marijuana, car taxes and the environment.
Beyond that, voting is one of the few instances in your life where you have the slightest ability to control the outcome of your life. Voting is as close to having actual power as any of us who aren’t rich or famous is ever likely to have.
Voting is lame
Do not vote. When you don’t vote, my vote counts for more.
That is really the only way that all of this voting nonsense can be done quickly and efficiently. One vote will not matter so if you decide to stay at home and play Xbox, it will be no great loss. Other people will decide the fate of marijuana, car taxes and the environment.
Beyond that, our candidates this election are nothing special. We have only a few interesting propositions that if you take the time to read in the California general election guide, you’ll realize this is true. I was only able to muscle through it because it was either I read that or do reading for class.
On top of that, you don’t have to vote. There is no one who is going to make you. You’re adults and can choose whether or not to participate. So if voting isn’t your thing, don’t do it.
Ultimately there is nothing I can say that should influence your decision to vote or to abstain. In the coming weeks there will be a series of columns on the propositions and candidates to give you more to chew on.
There’s political blood in the water; let the sharks come.
David Cowan is a senior journalism major and the features editor for the Daily 49er.
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