It is the favorite argument among those who don't vote ... and even some who do. "Why bother? My vote doesn't count." Now, of course someone (or something) counted their vote (except, perhaps, in the very rare case of voter fraud), so that's not what they mean. They are saying, "My vote doesn't determine who will be in office."
On the face of it, of course, that's foolishness. It wouldn't be an election if "my vote determines who is in office." That would be a dictatorship or something. Individuals aren't supposed to determine who is elected in an election; that's the job of the voters (plural). So each voter adds his or her perspective/preferences to the pot in the hopes that a sufficient number of voters will agree with them, but no single voter determines the outcome. Even in those strange cases where "that guy won by only two votes" or something like it it wasn't "my vote" that was one of those two. That version of "doesn't count" doesn't make sense.
So maybe your vote doesn't count; it doesn't determine the outcome. But your voice counts. And if the more you can get who agree with you vote, their voices make a difference. At the bottom of it, though, it is your integrity that counts. We are commanded to be involved with politics. "Wait … what?" Yes. We are commanded to pray for our leaders (1 Tim 2:1-4). God holds us responsible for our choices of leadership (Hos 8:4). We are warned about the problems of evil government (Prov 28:12). We are to pursue righteousness for our nation (Prov 14:34). We are to "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's" (Matt 22:21). (All of this written to people who had no say over their governments.)
It is true that, statistically, your vote doesn't count. I would argue that spiritually it does and morally it does and biblically it does. At no time does any one of us get to determine who is in office, but that's not how voting works. Voting is the expression of your opinion and, while no one else might know what that is, God does. So your vote counts insofar as it is an expression of obedience. Integrity counts. Obedience counts. Service counts. All are found in that vote. So, I guess it depends on your definition of "counts."
9 comments:
When I complain that my vote doesn't count, it's in reference specifically for President because of the Electoral College. My entire voting life I've lived in blue states, so my states "count" will be for a Democrat, even though I didn't vote for him. I still vote, just not with any idea that it is saying anything to anyone or will affect a single bit of change.
The argument is an abdication in most all cases. It doesn't matter if it can be proven to be true. What's important is that each should regard his vote as the deciding vote, since at the time of placing it, one doesn't know the outcome. It could be a matter of a single vote (regardless of how unlikely, and regardless of how Dems will force a recount until they get that single vote to be in their favor---that's how they roll).
Yes, David, but my point was if you define "count" as "matters to God," then it does.
Marshal, it seems to me that telling myself, "My vote is the deciding vote," especially in a presidential vote where the Electoral College makes the final vote and many states have moved to "Whoever wins the popular vote in our state gets all our electoral votes," is in essence lying to myself to make me feel good.
So, what you're saying is we need to redefine what "count" means? :)
Not redefine, of course (and I see that smiley face), but determine for yourself what you consider to be "count" -- to matter. Like church leaders that define "success" in numbers. For a vote to "count" does it need to change the outcome or does it really "count" if it pleases God regardless of the outcome? :) (See? I can do a smiley face, too.)
I thought that your distinction between statistically and spiritual/moral was an excellent way to put it.
Yea! Someone got it! :)
I've historically been able to vote for whoever I wanted because the places I lived were pretty reliably blue. This year, it looks like there is a tiny change that the out state folks who know that they'll be unemployed if Biden wins just might push us close enough to be close. It's a different calculus when things are more up for grabs.
The attitude of "my vote will break the tie" doesn't suggest that it's that close, but that it's that important. I assume that attitude when deciding for whom I will vote and what the outcome will likely be if I don't. I can't remember a time when there wasn't a clear choice in political philosophies, the left side always being far less beneficial regardless of the moral quality of the candidates and party...which is clearly both far more decayed than at any time in my lifetime, and far more than anyone can argue the GOP has fallen. This is just the reality, so my vote...cast as if it is the deciding vote...seeks to block the worst case scenario which in doing so keeps us from suffering from the many proposals that have never and will never benefit us as a nation, as well as keeps us from drifting further from God as a nation.
As to blue states and the Electoral College, we can only concern ourselves with our own states because voting is a state issue, not a federal one. It doesn't matter how small the margin of victory, but only the victory matters. I've lived in one of the bluest states all my life. Yet, my vote counts in terms of reflecting the level at which the state remains blue or is beginning to move the other direction or getting worse. If there are 100 people and 70 vote blue, then the next election only 68 vote blue, that means something. It provides incentive for red candidates to work harder to move that percentage even further, and the more that can be done, the more likely the state will turn red. To think it doesn't matter because of one is outnumbered is defeatist. It should mean more effort to convert those who continue to vote for the worst people, just as one would seek to evangelize and win souls for Christ. Adding one's vote to the total of the opposition party is a part of that. Every little bit helps. Cynicism doesn't help at all, nor does it please God or anyone else.
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