The Bad Business of Boycotting the Elections

Through the few centuries of our country's political heritage a strong two-party system has formed in both intentional and unintentional ways, and while American political ideologies and party names have changed, including such past ones as the Whigs, Federalists, and even the Prohibitionists, it is the function of the left and right to pull those in the middle toward their direction to determine the outcome of elections, to ensure fairness by acting as a check-and-balance to one another, and to cause the best to rise to the top and the worst to be weeded out.

As a poll worker for the first time in this year's Primary election I was astounded and greatly impressed at the magnitude and power of We the People. In America, it is not the government that holds and administers elections. It is the People, who follow procedures that ensure fairness and opportunity. It is the People who take the equipment to the polling location, set it up, open and close the polls, and carry the tally sheets and equipment back to the county seat where it is collected and the results are announced. That is a rare and precious process! This is accomplished because both parties are involved in the process. It is the same two-party system that ensures fairness in other aspects of government, everywhere from local library and drainage boards to the news that you read in the free press.

But when Americans hear about Republicans and Democrats and partisanship, they often become frustrated and disgusted. It seems all they do is knock heads, filibuster one another, and do their best to hold the other's head under water as long as they can. While the schemes and tactics of politicians are tiresome, imagine the horror that would result if they were all in agreement on their schemes and tactics. Who would there be to raise red flags, regardless of their reason for doing so, on one another?

But oftentimes Americans become so jaded by politicians in general that the inclination is to write off both parties and claim to be "Independent". But I am here to say that that is a cop out. This inclination is understandable, but the ends do not justify the means. Third party candidates rarely win elections; they merely split the vote and allow for the win of a candidate who fails to gain a clear majority. Independents do not work to better the process or the party; they merely stand outside of the process, accepting no responsibility for the ills and dirt that are inevitably politics, and offer no real change or solutions. An Independent party is anything but independent of the process or results.

As voters we are already independent. We have the freedom to choose either party, we can change our mind with each election, and we can maintain an open mind to examine the issues, qualifications, and accusations made by our candidates. We have more than just two choices, and that is why the Primary election, where the decision is made by each party to choose the best candidate to become the opposition, is so important, yet often unnoticed. Every American has the right to withhold his or her declaration to any one party, but if he or she wants real change then the only way to achieve it is to demand honest and effective Republicans or Democrats, to hold the ones already elected accountable, and to stay active and participate in the process.

I've often heard the throw-the-towel-in position, something along the lines of, "I'm not voting for any of them! They're all a bunch of crooks!" And while this sentiment may very well hold a substantial amount of truth, the real truth is that boycotting elections does not put any politician out of business. The American journalist, George Jean Nathan said, "Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote." Failing to participate in the political process that our men and women fight and die for is participating in a great deal of harm.