What's the deal with people who "never vote"?

[Dream Girl]

I’m often frustrated and disgusted by people who seem to think it’s cute that they don’t vote. Growing up in Ohio, I vividly recall my Black, Alabama born parents getting dress up in their Sunday best to go out to vote. I got the message that not matter what, voting is a solemn duty. I never questioned that would not vote in every election. Wat the hell is wrong with these people?

[Aristus]

1. Either very stupid people,

or unnecessarily self-righteous ones who think that they are "above the fray", so to speak.

Acting as if voting is something low and squalid, instead of the foundational act of our democracy.

[treestar]

18. Yes.

And talking about politics. That can get you a self-righteous "I never discuss politics," as if that's a low and squalid thing to discuss.

[jrthin]

30. MSNBC host Katy Tur reminds me of such self righteous idiot.

On her book tour in 2017 she said on an NPR interview she doesn't vote because she wants to remain neutral. One of the most vain, idiotic statements she has spoken. It's like saying I can't cover women's topic because I am a woman.

[RKP5637]

39. FFS - Incredible! n/t

[Walleye]

52. Bob Woodward said he never votes

[betsuni]

53. I bought a copy of her book and regretted it. It's boring and she's boring.

The only chapter that wasn't boring was about her parents.

[SheltieLover]

2. Dunno

Seems prevalent in Memphis region.

[murielm99]

3. Dunno.

I run into them sometimes when I canvas. One guy always tells me that he leaves that up to his wife. I have a young friend who works in a convenience store. I know she leans Democratic. I have never been able to get her registered. She is a poor example to others and to her teenaged daughter.

[BComplex]

13. Someone probably told her that's how they select people for Jury Duty.

She just doesn't want to participate in our democracy at any level.

[Towlie]

31. That was the word when I lived in the Florida Keys back in the early 1980s.

... and (I was told) since there are few permanent residents in the Keys compared to tourists and snowbirds, those who were registered to vote had a relatively high probability of being called to jury service. So the common advice from the locals was "Whatever you do, don't register to vote!"

The policy was probably adopted purely out of convenience, but I think it's wrong. Registering to vote activates a new freedom that you can choose to exercise or decline, but exposing yourself to jury service removes a freedom and therefore effectively discourages you from voting. So as far as I'm concerned tying voter registration to jury duty constitutes voter suppression.

[cwydro]

47. I lived in Key West for 25 years.

Registered to vote, drivers license etc.

Never called to jury duty.

Since my return to my big city hometown, I’ve been called twice.

[RKP5637]

4. Same thoughts here. I used to know someone who said it was just too

much bother. I finally got them started voting. That was way back. Today, if alive, I think they would vote with no question.

Also, I think some people just think the system will go along OK and their vote doesn't matter anyway.

[kimbutgar]

5. My sister in law is like that

Both parties are the same, my vote doesn’t matter. She thinks she is the smartest person in the room with her high school diploma! I really do like her but her ignorance is hard to take sometimes. And her 4 children are all right wingers.

[RKP5637]

7. That is just incredible. And her children must be very gullible. n/t

[kimbutgar]

16. Yes her ex husband was a right winger who indoctrinated his children that way

He used to call me the looney liberal from California. He lost his house to foreclosure and lives on social security disability but he hates Democrats with a passion. I laugh that he is the real loser.

[RKP5637]

22. These types never seem to see themselves as the real losers. It really is a mental condition

of denial.

[Freddie]

6. My late MIL

refused to vote (while complaining about politics endlessly) because she thought voter registration made you eligible for jury duty. She died in 1994 so I don’t know about back then but now in PA it’s your drivers license.

[Grins]

20. Refused to vote but complained...

Late 70’s; Fairfax County Virginia.
Morning drive-time radio.
And this one host...!

Music, news, weather like most stations.
But if there was something in the news about the County that caught his attention, schools, taxes, traffic, etc. he’d fire up.
And would take calls!

When the caller got on the air - before the caller could say a word - the host would ask: “Did you vote?”

And if the answer was “No”, he’d HANG UP on the caller, and add, “You don’t vote? You don’t get to say anything!”

And I agreed with him.

[murielm99]

29. Years ago, when my brother

moved into a new house, he did not get registered in time. Whenever he griped about Reagan, I yelled at him and told him I would not discuss anything political with a non-voter.

[shanti]

45. Or to evade creditors

Most, I feel, are simply lazy or have bought into the bs that voting doesn't matter.

[Walleye]

8. I know a young Berniecrat who's not going to vote

He thinks he’s getting back at somebody. He thinks he’s following his conscience. Very frustrating

[RKP5637]

24. Tell him Donald Trump thanks him for his vote!!! n/t

[wryter2000]

27. I'm going to use that on my brother

If he won't vote for Biden. His wife convinced him to vote for Nader in 2000. They lived in CA at the time, so two lost votes didn't mean much. They live in Arizona now. I'm going to give him hell if he won't vote for Biden.

He's already told me he and his wife are great with Mark Kelly, so that's good.

[Walleye]

38. Oh. I've told him that. Doesn't get through

I would say brainwashed but that’s kind of harsh

[RKP5637]

40. Hmmmm ... maybe partially brainwashed, then. n/t

[Dream Girl]

49. Tell Bernie is going to vote for Biden

[abqtommy]

9. There's all kinds of people in this world and there's many that we'll never understand. Your

parents have provided you and the rest of us with an example worth following!

[RKP5637]

41. Yep, as the twig is bent, so grows the tree ... something like that. n/t

[qwlauren35]

10. My boss didn't vote in '08.

I could not imagine NOT voting for a black president. To me, it was unthinkable.

But he didn't vote.

I have a niece who has proudly told me that she is not going to be a voter. I'm sure she gets it from her father, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was not a voter, and a Trump supporter by mouth only.

I think those of us who vote either had parents who voted, or "woke up" and recognized that voting has power.

I would like to think that all the women who gathered in January 2016 are voting. And MAYBE the people who gathered for George Floyd are voting.

But after talking to my boss, I am no longer convinced.

It's like the people who ONLY vote in presidential elections. Or the Democrats and Republicans who don't vote in the primaries.

I would like to say that it's ignorance, or lack of education. But it's not. These are people who completely do not believe that voting matters, don't understand that one's vote counts in down-ballot races, and are not interested in getting educated on politics.

I can't relate to them at all, but I try not to engage. Because it just pisses me off.

[qwlauren35]

11. Interestingly

Trump votes.

Registered in Florida.

So, it's not a matter of stupidity.

[milestogo]

12. Sometimes they say that because they don't want to engage in political discussion.

Other times they usually don't vote, but they will if they see how it affects them personally. I had a non-voter neighbor who was in a union. He told me he never votes. Then Scott Walker started union-busting, and suddenly he became interested.

And for others, honestly, its in the "too hard" pile. I remember canvasing and having a few women tell me that their husbands decide who they vote for. The husband gets 2 votes, they get zero.

[Xolodno]

14. Well, on the flip side....

Do you want stupid people to vote?

If they don't care now, they won't care when they feel obligated to do so. People voting, not caring about the issues that affect them.

Or worse, I have relatives that don't vote....and they fully support Trump.

[RKP5637]

26. I've felt that way sometimes too ... maybe the world is better off if they don't vote when they have

those attitudes.

[JDC]

15. Those that don't vote always seem to muster up the courage to complain

I notice. Usually about things the could have voted to affect.

[CrispyQ]

17. My 5th grade social studies teacher stressed our duty to vote every chance she could.

Most of my adult life, I have known more people who didn't vote than did vote. That's changing, though, but I still get mad. Maybe if they had all voted all along, we wouldn't be in this mess.

[murielm99]

32. We have a high school government teacher here

who registers all his students to vote when they turn eighteen. When some kid tells him that they don't want to register, or that both parties are the same, he says, "Well, if everyone felt that way, we would not have a democracy any more."

He is also the union rep for the district.

My daughter told me that at the beginning of the school year, he gave the students an unmarked map of the U.S. He had the kids fill in the state names. Most of them could not do it. He gave them quizzes throughout the year and made sure that they could label each state correctly.

This is a good teacher.

[CrispyQ]

34. Have him show the students that video of Al Franken drawing the US from memory.

It's ultra cool! And kudos registering the kids to vote. Voting age was 21 back when I was a kid.

Good teachers make such a difference!

[murielm99]

56. When I was teaching here,

I had one block a day at the high school, the rest at the middle school. I taught an accounting class. For some reason I cannot remember, the computer lab was closed temporarily. We had to meet next door to that teacher's classroom. One day, I we overheard the videos he was playing. They were all old union songs. He taught a strong unit on the history of unions as well.

I have thought about the Al Franken video. It is quite possible that it might be considered too controversial right now. And we might not have in person school this year. It is a good suggestion, though.

[peggysue2]

19. I talked to an old friend of mine last weekend

She admitted that she never voted, never took any interest in politics until recently. Well, until Barack Obama ran for president and she decided she didn't like him.

Interesting, too, that she said her mother and father had never voted. That surprised me. Her dad ran a pretty large electrical supply company in our small town and was well known in the area. In contrast, I've always voted as did my parents.

In any case, she understands what a goon Trump is, yet has fallen for every negative, Democratic meme. We're all radical leftists who want to Defund the Police (tell me again this isn't a horrible slogan) and believes Biden supports violent BLM protests and Antifa.

I went through all the arguments about how Defund the Police is not equal to Dissolving the Police, how protesting is a constitutional right and violence is not sanctioned by the BLM movement, and how the label Antifa is a mythical organization propagated by Trump and the right-wing.

She's not convinced. Not yet but I plan on keeping in touch and working on her.

But the voting thing? I wonder if today's nonvoters were spawned by families of nonvoters, people who decided politics/civil responsibilities had nothing to do with them? If anything, it's a reason civics should be reintroduced into our school curriculums, along with a heavy emphasis on history, the good and the bad. If citizens don't have a sense of how bad things can get without a decent, functioning government, the risks of losing our constitutional Republic go sky high.

Also have a cousin who is a dedicated Trumpster. For her? I don't think there's any hope because she slid down the rabbit hole long ago. Trump is winning, he's a great president and Joe Biden will wreck the country, yada, yada. Any problems in NJ, blame the Governor. On and on, she goes with this stuff on FB. She does, in fact, vote.

Makes my head hurt.

[treestar]

21. I had a friend who proudly said he did not vote

And would also say he was "left of center." Now why did that matter if he never voted?

[stillcool]

23. I didn't vote for years...

Moved around a lot...state to state, as well as town to town. Did lots of drinking and drugging, and paid little attention to anything. Worked in hotel/restaurant business, often under the table...no health care, no pay-check, didn't file taxes. Did not have any ID until I was 23. Didn't have a phone in my name till I was almost 30. No news, no television. Scared of any government building, official, mail, anything. A non-person, living a non-life.

[wryter2000]

25. I finally met a couple of them

Very nice people at my gym. Whenever I bring up politics, they fall silent and get disapproving looks on their faces. They just don't do politics at all. With the pandemic, I haven't seen them for months. I hope they and all their loved ones are safe. If one gets seriously sick with the virus, I wonder if it will wake them up.

[customerserviceguy]

37. It may be

that they sensed they were of a different political orientation than you, and may have said that to avoid getting into a discussion with you. I do that when someone tries to sell me their religion.

[wryter2000]

48. Lord, I hope they're not pro Trump

Those of us who are vocal about politics are definitely anti-. I guess that could keep them quiet.

[customerserviceguy]

59. It's like

the people who think they don't know anyone who is gay. Gay folks are sharp enough to avoid getting into a discussion with such people about it and revealing the truth.

[wryter2000]

63. We do have some out lesbians in the class we're in

They bring their wives to the big holiday party. No one has batted an eyelash at that that I've seen.

[Skittles]

28. they're the kind of idiots who just think stuff that happens elsewhere could NEVER happen here

they make me sick

I've always excused the very young - I do think politics has traditionally been something you age into, become aware of (like the need to grow up). Older folk? Disgusting.

*edited to add there are always exceptions due to being overwhelmed just trying to survive

[Whiskeytide]

33. George Carlin - brilliant in some things - never voted. He said that ...

... voting makes you a part of the shit show and therefore you have no right to gripe about a government you helped create. He managed to make a routine out of it, but I never understood that logic.

[Chainfire]

35. Laziness comes with many excuses

[customerserviceguy]

36. My only guess

is that they're of the "a pox on both your houses" kind of mentality. I remember a bumper sticker from a few decades ago that said, "Don't vote, it just encourages them".

[jorgevlorgan]

42. My Japanese American mother has likely not voted a day in her life

She always has an excuse for why, but I've never understood it. Her father was politically vocal and active when he was alive and studying for the bar when he died shortly after receiving his law degree at the age of 40. One of his friends became a federal judge. I wonder still if she would be different if those life circumstances were also different.

[jalan48]

43. Over 90 million eligible voters didn't vote in the 2016 election. Laziness and a belief that it makes

no difference is my guess.

[Codeine]

44. It's weird. People died to ensure they would be able to

have a say in their political destinies, but these people just don’t get it. It’s genuinely sad.

[cwydro]

46. Like Colin Kaepernick?

Good question.

[Dream Girl]

51. Him too.

[JI7]

55. The biggest reason I have little respect for him

[JonLP24]

62. His reasoning is he would feel like a hypocrite

He said Clinton & Trump were debating who is less racist. He referenced her "Super predators" remark which people did have a problem with. Don't blame me for that, I voted for Clinton in 2016.

[moonscape]

50. My parents were Eastern European and

when we were discussing the low turn-out of voters in the US my father said: In much of the world people risk their lives for the ability to vote and deserve that right. In the US we have that ability but sometimes I think don't deserve it.'

He was extremely critical of those who don't bother.

I'm so grateful he's not alive to see what has increasingly happened to our ability to vote, after escaping the diminished rights and corruption of the Eastern Europe he fled so many decades ago.

[JI7]

54. There are LOTS of people who just have no interest in politics. It's boring to them

this is even more true of younger people.

[llmart]

57. My brother is sixty-eight and has never voted in his life.

He's always kept up on politics and favors Dems. His reasoning in the past is that his one vote doesn't make a difference. I could never convince him to register. I think he was intimidated as the years went on that he wouldn't know what to do in the voting booth and he'd look stupid.

However, he registered this year and is voting. His hatred of Trump was the impetus. I'm still in shock.

[betsuni]

58. Politiphobes. Between 25 and 40 percent of Americans have an extremely distorted idea of

how government and politics works. Jonathan Rauch in "The Atlantic":

"They see the contentious give-and-take of politics as unnecessary and distasteful. Specifically, they believe that obvious, commonsense solutions to the country's problems are out there for the plucking. The reason these obvious solutions are not enacted is that politicians are corrupt, or self-interested, or addicted to unnecessary partisan feuding. Not surprisingly, politiphobes think the obvious, commonsense solutions are the sorts of solutions that they themselves prefer. But the more important point is that they do not acknowledge that meaningful political disagreement even exists. From that premise, they conclude that all the arguing and partisanship and horse trading that go on in American politics is entirely unnecessary. Politicians could easily solve all our problems if they would only set aside their craven personal agendas."

The idea that the answer is an outsider free from party loyalty or political debts who will magically fix everything, that some sort of revolution will start. Doesn't matter to their supporters that their plans to govern are delusional.

"Trump, Sanders and Ted Cruz have in common that they are political sociopaths -- meaning not that they are crazy, but that they don't care what other politicians think about their behavior and they don't need to care. That three of the final four presidential contenders in 2016 were political sociopaths is a sign of how far chaos syndrome has gone. The old, mediated system selected such people out. The new, disintermediated system selects them in."

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/07/how-american-politics-went-insane/485570

[EX500rider]

60. Maybe fans of Mark Twain...

...who was quoted as "Don't vote, it only encourages them"

[JonLP24]

61. I blame the political system in the US

We have two parties & negative partisanship.

I took a test to see which countries match up with my political beliefs and my answer was Denmark. I also learned Uruguay is a great country.

Uruguay

(Snip)

Uruguay is ranked first in Latin America in democracy, peace, low perception of corruption,[11] e-government,[12] and is first in South America when it comes to press freedom, size of the middle class and prosperity.[11] On a per-capita basis, Uruguay contributes more troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions than any other country.[11] It tops the rank of absence of terrorism, a unique position within South America. It ranks second in the region on economic freedom, income equality, per-capita income and inflows of FDI.[11] Uruguay is the third-best country on the continent in terms of HDI, GDP growth,[13] innovation and infrastructure.[11] It is regarded as a high-income country by the UN.[12] Uruguay was also ranked the third-best in the world in e-Participation in 2014.[12] Uruguay is an important global exporter of combed wool, rice, soybeans, frozen beef, malt and milk.[11] Nearly 95% of Uruguay's electricity comes from renewable energy, mostly hydroelectric facilities and wind parks.[14] Uruguay is a founding member of the United Nations, OAS, Mercosur and the Non-Aligned Movement.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruguay

I believe if the US had a government working for them like that more people will be willing to vote.

[steve2470]

64. I think a big part of this, is the perception that voting does not matter

Of course, we all know this is ignorance. Granted, if you live in California, your vote is not *as* crucial as someone who lives in a very red part of MS or ID, but it is STILL important.

Theoretically speaking, if 99% of the eligible voters did not vote, then the most motivated voters (the rich and powerful) would be voting and we'd end up with a fascist or proto-fascist government fairly soon.

I can understand people who get frustrated with the daily "drama" of politics. There is way too much lying and manipulation by the Republicans, right-wingers, large corporations and *some* of the wealthy, but if you get frustrated or burned out, take a short break. Come back and renew the fight. Way too many people take our democracy for granted. We could easily devolve into some version of Russia if apathy gets too extreme and widespread.