Why I failed to vote

Ohhhh….I could make up some excuse as to why I failed to vote such as, I was out of the State on a family emergency – or maybe I was unable to get to the voting station due to a broken leg or another some such lie. But the truth is…. I was without information.

My Democratic Right is that I have choices – and one of these choices is to seek information before I act.

The candidates that I was expected to vote for gave me no information at all. They did not approach me and discuss their morals, intentions or values to improve my life or benefit my community. They did not tell me of their agendas for the following years or even hold public meetings so that we could ask them questions regarding their plans. All I ever saw of them was expensively produced brochures through my letter box and smiling faces in smart suits above a list of unenforceable promises on billboards scattered around the district. I never got to know any of the candidates, and that is my loss and well as theirs.

I hold my choices and therefore my voting right as ‘sacrosanct’ and will never mindlessly ‘tick any box’ that may give someone power to influence my life without gaining the necessary information.

As I look around the Democratic World, I see people mindlessly voting for ‘power players’ with destructive agendas. This says to me that fear and bureaucratic threats have overtaken our democracies, requiring people just to turn up and vote without seeking information as to the calibre of whose ‘box’ they tick.   That doesn’t sound much like democracy to me.

 As long as I live in Australia, I will value and respect my freedom and democratic right to information and will never mindlessly vote for anyone who does not.

Do you agree with what Samantha has to say?  What are your views on voting?  We would love to read what you have to say in the comments below.

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