If you don't know, don't vote

Every election season I, at least on some level, advocate that some people don't vote. This may seem bizarre, even unpatriotic, maybe even like voter fraud, but hang in there, I've got reasons, and fraud's got nothing to do with it.

I'm not saying you shouldn't educate yourself and exercise your civic rights. Far, far from it. Ideally, everyone in a society would read up on the candidates and the issues and vote accordingly. In fact, while I don't necessarily support it in the US, I'm a bit of a fan of the Australian mandatory vote. I wish the American public would vote in larger numbers than they do. I am fully in favor of get out the vote efforts.

But here's where it gets a little nuanced. If you don't have time to learn about a candidate or an issue and go to the polls to vote for candidates just because you've heard of them, that's not responsible voting, and it doesn't advance the public interest. Equally, voting a straight ticket because you think by default one party will always act in your interest is also not really how the system is meant to work.

So what are your options? If you feel that voting is your civic duty, by all means go to the polls. But whether you don't know the candidates or issues or think you'll end up voting a straight ticket anyway, read the ballot and vote on each one. If you come to a race where you don't know the candidates, don't vote in that election. It's your right as a voter to do so and as far as I'm aware, there are no municipalities in the US that will invalidate your ballot simply because you left a race blank.

This is not the same as a protest vote (contrary to the wikipedia page on blank ticket voting). A protest vote specifically is designed to get the attention of politicians to say 'I don't like any of you.' Blank voting simply says, I care enough to show up at the polls, but I don't know enough about you or your opponent(s) to make an informed decision.

Take, for example, Alaska. Say I'm fairly independent, but generally like the Republican party, but I'm not so much on the Tea Party platform. I see Joe Miller is a Republican. I see Mark Begich is a Democrat. Perhaps I know Joe Miller is a Tea Party candidate, but I don't know a lot more than that. So I play the odds and vote for Miller because odds are, he'll be a better fit than Begich. And if I don't know the candidates, that's what I'm doing, playing the odds. What I don't know is that Senator Murkowski, who is a much better fit for me than Miller or Begich, is running a write-in campaign. My vote for Miller isn't just a vote against Begich, it's also a vote against Murkowski, and actually a vote against my own interests.

And aside from the odd write-in campaign (first senatorial write-in win since 1967), there are plenty of other candidates you may vote for out of name recognition that, if you knew their platforms or their personality, you'd have avoided like the plague. Like the candidate who put a postcard in your mailbox saying he supports lowering taxes, but doesn't mention he wants an across-the-boards 20% cut in school funding, including your child's school, to do it. Or the candidate who wants to bring new jobs to your state, but doesn't mention that she plans to do so by building a prison in your hometown.

Just think, if Charlie Rangel runs again, he's not going to put tax evasion on his postcards. Does that mean you shouldn't vote for him? Not necessarily, but you should at least dig deep enough to find that sort of thing out before you tick the box because you heard his name on NPR or because he has a (D) next to his name.

In short, don't vote America! Unless you actually know who you're voting for.