First TIme Voter
 

So this will be my first time voting (my state's primaries are in May) and I was wondering are there any other first time voters here on GC? I am trying to educate myself on each of the candidates and what their stances are on issues I believe are important to me. I don't want to be one of those teens who votes for Candidate A because they're someone other than Bush, or for Candidate B because they're a member of this party and so are my parents. My friends tell me I'm taking this all too seriously (I've been researching each candidate :o on the side) and that as long as Bush is out of office the US will be a better place. That's extremely naive and I refuse to put just anyone in office because now I have a little bit of influence on who will make major decisions for the next 4 years of my life. To make a long story short, I'm excited about expressing my right to put someone in an office besides the ones in my school.:D

You first time voters on here better have age or citizenship reasons for being so. :)

Yesterday this woman called in to Michael Baisden's show saying she was 40-something and had never voted. There are various reasons why older people don't vote but it's interesting either way.

:D Congrats, NappyBison, and it's great that you're taking this seriously and researching EACH candidate on EACH side. You make your own informed decision and don't let ANYONE tell you how you should vote and don't feel confined to family traditions, bipartisan expectations, your friends' choices, racialized or gendered expectations, etc.. While it's a huge responsibility and has a great social impact, the decision is completely up to you and you don't have to even tell anyone who you are voting/voted for, let alone explain why you chose a particular candidate. As long as YOU know why you chose a particular candidate and feel it was based on something substantive.

I feel "grown" now that I can vote lol
 

I love your siggy lol That commercial cracks me up everytime I see it.

NB, I'm not a first time voter but I wanted to chime in and say I find it very impressive and refreshing how seriously you are taking this. The first election I was old enough to vote in was the 2000 Presidentials and I remember my roommate telling me she was voting for Bush because she saw him on some talk show and thought he was "funny." :confused:

I saw on a news show where one lady was 89. This was going to be her first time voting in an election.

God bless her.

That makes me think of the time when blacks who could not read, or had not learned that they now have suffrage, were first time voters at old ages.

I heard that yesterday and I was stunned also!!!

Well here is some good news....Bush can't be re-elected....just make sure that whatever you do, don't be so quick to vote straight down party lines.

Do some homework on candidates that you like and look over how they voted in Congress if any of them have been Senator.

If they did any thing else, like had a governorship research what they did for their state and so on and in the end you should be a little clearer about where your vote lies.

She wasn't black. I found that interesting. (ETA)

There is no such thing as taking your privilege to vote seriously!

Having said that, I can only hope that more people feel the way you do. It will only enrich our government!

I imagined she was and it conjured up that image for me.

I also know that there are tons of people of every race who have never (and will never) vote. It's very interesting and there are efforts to reach those individuals, especially those of certain demographic groupings.

What are these reasons? It's been my experience that older folks--especially those of the Greatest Generation--have taken their civic responsibilities so much more seriously than Baby Boomers or Generation X-ers.

Yeah, I like labeling generations. :)

In my post, "older" refers to people who are 40 +

People can feel free to add to my list:


1. Feeling a disconnect between the ways "of the past" and contemporary issues/concerns. If they voted years ago, they may reminisce about who they voted for in the past and may even say that the current politicans aren't worth it.
2. A lack of access to information on the candidates and voting, particularly in certain areas and with certain socioeconomic groups.
3. Frustration with the outcome of previous elections--and typical voter apathy
4. Schedules conflict with elections and they don't have the info or the interest to do absentee ballots, etc.
5. The same impatience and intolerance for ALL politicans that I have but it's possibly magnified due to a combo of demographic factors.

I keep hearing about "I don't want to be called for jury duty. How lame is that?

That being the main one...this is why everyone more than ever is being urged to vote this election year

It's a lame excuse but an understandable sentiment. :)

I don't think that's the main one, especially for older people who have never voted.

It depends on who you talk to in some cases.

But you still have a lot of disenfranchised folks who still feel that the 2000 and 2004 votes didn't matter and now they are of age...or were at that time, why bother when they feel like they are being cheated?

I had a similar conversation with one of my frat brothers back in 04.

He was too young to vote back in 2000 and didn't bother in 2004 because 'he knew that Bush would find a way to cheat'

Althouhg I could understand his frustration I still had to remind him that there is nothing he could be mad about if he at least still didn't exercise his right to vote.

He is definently voting this year.(mostly because everytime he tried to get into a political debate we would remind him of that facr and shut him down...heh!)

Now I see where you're going. I thought you were talking about people who had voted and were pissed because they thought their vote didn't count.

This younger woman on Baisden said that she was tempted not to vote ever again because she felt her vote didn't count in the last election because Bush was re-elected. I said outloud "what an idiot...." because votes always count unless there is some error/conspiracy at the polls. Just because a certain candidate wasn't elected doesn't mean the votes weren't counted and didn't count.

Excuses for Not Voting
 

I've heard the "my vote won't count" before :mad: As a person living in the one of the most lucrative and most ignorant countries on the face of this planet, I feel like smacking a few million folks with a history book, math book, dictionary, etc. Those people who don't end up voting are the very ones complaining about the government slighting them of this or that. How can you sit up here and complain about something when you had an opportunity to keep it from occuring in the first place :confused: I guess you can't necessarily fault them for their ignorance, but after a certain point it's just sheer stupidity that spews from the mouths of these fools (yes fools). Unless you've been a convicted felon, are in jail, or have some other legit reason which prevents you from voting, there is no excuse for one taking it upon themselves to simply "not vote".

I asked my roomie (who is from Nashville, TN) did she vote and she was like "naw, I'm not in Nashville." I told her "Uuuummmmmmmm we are in the Murfreesboro which is JUST 30 minutes away and you couldn't drive your lazy a$$ home for that? You drive for everything else in you Hybrid automobile that you say hardly burns gas! People marched, suffered, and died just for BLACK (people) and WOMEN to have the right to do so!" She couldn't say nothing but just stand there and look dumb. And, I politely left her in her dumbness. She too young to be that dayum lazy...

"Bitchassness" is certainly affecting our communities...folks want to whine and complain but too lazy to participate in a simple act that can change and improve things.

Though I'm over 50, I still recall casting my first vote. Congratulations.

You're to be commended for taking the vote seriously and for voting issues, not parties or personalities.

Recall civics classes, too. Candidates will do or say a lot to be elected that they either know they can't accomplish, or learn they can't accomplish. Look at their plans for getting their way. Note whether they have records of compromise and bipartisanship. Note whether they.have records that are consistent with their current words.

For incumbents or those who have been in Congress, look at www.thomas.gov at legislation they've sponsored. What issues have they cared enough about to sponsor? What have they cosponsored? What have they worked hard enough at that they have cosponsors and support from both sides of the aisle? What have they voted FOR or AGAINST simply because it was expedient, but didn't mesh with stated words.

You can spend a lifetime doing this, and some do. Pick an issue or two or three to start. Look at whether the candidate's plans are realistic, not just making promises.

And have FUN!

I love customers who come into the store and brag that they do not vote as they do not care.


I look them straight in the eye and tell them, "well if you do not vote then do not complain".


Even though someone on this site she knows more about the state laws I lived in (Mo.) and She lives in (Pn), I have voted every damn time which gives me the right to complain about how things are run!

Good for you HB, vote, it is a right that many lives were lost to allow you to do this!:D