2008 Election - Who should vote?

No, not voting is not an option, but even more is being uneducated or ignorant. You have to vote according to realistic evidence and not according to gut feelings or rumors. That will lead to some nut case running the country, and that has happened many times too often in history in many countries, that is one major flaw in democracy (The masses and uneducated vote out of superstition rather that evidence). Rather be educated and know, so Option B is right overall, but not voting and accepting ignorance is not an option.

I voted for "A". You should always exercise your right to vote as an American citizen!

Lets say that we should restrict people's ability to vote.
Who gets to decide who votes and who doesn't?

Perhaps only the smartest should vote... as you seem to be implying. Ok that actually seems logical, yet whose definition are we going to use? Should high school drop-outs be able to vote? Even if he/she is part of Mensa? The real problem with this interesting question is that it segregates people into categories that they may or may not truly belong.

America is the land of the free.. and the home of the brave where each man and woman is treated equal with the power to land, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

We have fought for nearly 250 years to obtain equality for all, and it is people with this mentality of "only the best should have their way" that has been the main advocate of advancing equality. It happened up until the mid 1800's against African Americans, up until the early 1900's against women, and currently against gays and lesbians (on some freedoms like marriage).

Imagine yourself in the shoes of another person, one who is restricted from voting for ANY reason. How would that make you feel?

I believe that everyone should vote. I also think that people should pay more attention to what's going on.

I feel however, that out of the people that already vote, I fear that we already have to many people basing their vote sole on what they have heard from the friends and family that they are around. Instead of getting the info from reliable sources and basing the vote on that.

It's amazingly sad how people today don't feel the need to vote. They don't even realize how many countless people have fought and died for voting rights, especially for women and minorities.

How would you define uneducated, unaware or careless? What's the line? I chose option b "no! Leave the voting to people who are actually trying to make a difference" because isn't that what happened (allegedly) in the past elections? Some software engineers felt that they were trying to make a difference?

If you read out U.S. Constitution, you will see the only right we have to vote is for the House of Representatives and Senate (by the 17th Amendment), but not the president nor the vice president. (Refer to the US Constitution, Article 2, Section 1; and the 12th Amendment.) The election of the president and v.p. is done by electors of the electoral college and NOT by popular vote. These electors are based on the total sum of the representatives and senators of each state.

This is characterized by the infamous 2000 Florida recount. Don't believe me? Check the Constitution for yourself: http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html

To answer your question, look at the U.S. Constitution Amendment 15, 19, 23, 26, and your individual state's constitution.

My opinion: If you are uneducated/careless/etc. just leave it for those who have an educated opinion.

I think so. Mathematically, one vote is unlikely to sway an election one way or the other, but the proportion of citizens who vote can have an impact.

When President Reagan was elected, he credited the "Silent Majority," a deferential nod to the millions of Americans who aren't heard from until an election year. This silent majority is likely to determine the outcome of this year's race because of the number of new voters and independents who are weighing in (having seen the results of not weighing in).

These people are the ones that scare the government. Democrats vote for Democrats and Republicans vote for Republicans - I'm sure you knew that :) - so politicians can disregard a large portion of the opposition. Why? Because they'd never vote for them anyway.

But the independents might - and that makes them scary.

President Bush won with less than half the votes cast by less than half the population, roughly equaling less than 25% of the country. While the majority of US citizens do not approve of the job he has done, like V says: "Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, ... if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror."

So I say vote for sure. The vote itself, regardless of whom it's for, reinforces the concept of the people having the power.

Just because you're not "educated" doesn't mean you don't know anything. Street smarts are different from book smarts and I wouldn't value one over the other. The result of the election affects everyone not just the ones with an education so I say they should all get a vote. Also, if someone is totally unaware of whats going on then they probably wouldn't know when or where to vote anyway.

That my opinion anyway.

So few people vote that it seems most people who do go to the polls tend have opinions. So, I'll say that I agree with everyone's right to vote, since determining who has a good opinion would be a messy prospect.

I understand your concern, though... Before the current electoral college system, the president was picked by the members of Congress. Even though they stood to have the most information about the candidates, it was not a guarantee that their opinions would be unbiased, and they might have voted against their home states' wishes.

I'm of the opinion that the presidential election should be decided by popular vote. As it stands, it doesn't matter if 49% of the people in a state vote for one candidate--all of their voting power will be transferred to the candidate who wins the majority. With popular vote, every single vote would count, and voting in general would matter much more.

I would say the question is do you want to vote or not? I personally do not plan on voting in the primaries because I don't really like any of the candidates. (This would make since if you didn't know anything about any of the candidates as well.) Then when the main vote comes up in November, I'll know between the two main options, considering there are third party candidates, who I like better. (Most likely the party I support, though who knows.) If you don't have a party, or any particular views it doesn't eliminate you from voting for someone just to vote against someone you don't like.

However, if you feel like you want to have a real reason for voting and form a valid opinion, then you could ask people whose opinion you respect and use that information to pick a candidate.

I didn't vote in the last election (and I wish I would have). I think everyone should vote. I used to be one of those people that felt one vote wouldn't matter but think about it. If one thousand people feel that way that's one thousand lost votes.

Most of what we followers of the election know is only conjecture compared to what the candidates may choose to omit, revise or substitute in their advertised policy once in office. In that aspect, we are all unaware/uneducated of anything going on, really. The best we can hope for is that our vote was for the most sincere, most human of the roll.

Aside from that, no, they shouldn't vote because obviously their lives are full of trivialities and as such would only degrade the content of the media coverage trying to accommodate their attention.

Time for some female opinion don't ya think? I think it is the responsibility of all to find out about the candidates and from that make the best decision for who they want as president. Therefore everyone should vote assuming everyone has the perquisite knowledge. Therefore, if a person is to lazy to find out about the options, they are no longer obligated to vote as they did not hold up their duty to enable them to make an educated vote. So in conclusion I make my own category. C. Those who care enoug