I am an Officer of Elections for my home state. I have noticed that there are a few preconceived notions/habits about voting which are generally false, and I would like to point them out, so here I go.
YOUR VOTE DOES COUNT.
Believe it or not, you vote does actually count. The only time this is arguable is with presidential elections, because of the Electoral College (EC). However, your vote (the popular vote) is designed to sway the EC's personnel to elect the candidate you want. If you briefly study American voting history, you'll find that the popular vote and the Electoral College vote rarely disagreed with each other. State and other local elections have NO EC, which means that your vote is directly counted. On that note, the Electoral College is made up of senators and representatives, which can only get their spot through a state election, so it is a VERY good idea to vote.
YOUR VOTE IS YOUR VOICE
There are many people who complain about the problems of the government, but they do not vote. The only ways to start to make a change in a public affair is to vote, or create a petition (which usually requires votes/signatures) to do something. Other than your local representative, your vote is your only voice in government affairs. If you choose not to vote, then you basically forfeit your right to complain. Also, if you think it's funny to write-in "Donald Duck" or "Johnny Knoxville" as your vote, then you just waisted your time and vote. That is the same as not voting.
VOTING IS A PRIVILEGE
Voting is not only a fundamental American right, but it is also a privilege. You lose this right when you're convicted of a crime (usually a severe and heinous one). Not only that, you generally don't have to worry about your voting location being bombed by some extremist. To that end, voting is a blessing that many people around the world are deprived of due to idiots, so be thankful that you can vote, and go out there and exercise your right.
RECOUNTS DON'T WORK
From my stand point, recounts are a pointless pain in the @%#$. The results are what they are, and a recount wont change anything. We (officers of elections) do not change the votes or mess with them for some stupid reason. Believe or not, counting and processing votes is an EXTREMELY tedious job that takes at least three hours. Not only that, elections are VERY expensive, usually costing millions of dollars for the state to sponsor it. In my home state, we deliver the ballots (and most of the other tools we use for an election) to the clerk of a court. One could tell if a ballot or two has been tampered with too. After all, ballots are marked with pen, and it's against the law for us to change a vote on a ballot.
YOU CAN'T VOTE THAT DAY?
If you're going to be out of town for the day of an election, or you think the line is going to be too long, then submit an absentee ballot. If you provide a legitimate excuse for not being able to get to your voting precinct within a reasonable amount of time, then your vote will be counted. The Electoral Board is sensitive to people's needs.
REGISTERING TO VOTE
It does not take that long to register to vote; in fact, it takes literally a few minutes. All you have to do is go to your local DMV or voter registrar's (VR) office, and fill out one piece of paper. You can even do this at your local DMV or VR's website. I personally do not see how facebook, myspace, etc. can register people to vote. Elections are managed and operated by the state, not the federal government. Each state has its own different procedures for voting and registering to vote. If you did register on an unofficial web-site (ex. facebook, myspace), then I highly recommend that you double-check with your local voter registrar to see if you're in registered in the system. Also, if you register to vote, then you can become an Officer of Elections if you want. It's a very easy job to get, and you get paid for every election you work. It's also not a difficult job either (unless you lack common sense), and it looks good on a resume. Be sure to read the fine print if you want the job.
That's all for now that I'm going to write on this topic. I'll start responding to comments the following day, and if you have any further questions about voting; I'll be more than happy to answer them. Peace!!!!!!
