Does My Vote Matter?

• “Yes”

  

  “Why Should You Vote in the November 4 Election?”

• “Objection”

  

  “Are Elections the Right Way to Make These Decisions?”
  

Are Elections the Right Way to Make These Decisions?

Art Carden

Economics Professor, Rhodes College

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It is true that there are a lot of important things that will be decided in the November 4 election.  Let's start with the Presidency.  As I have argued before, an Obama victory in California is practically a foregone conclusion, so anyone who votes for anyone other than Obama in California isn't "helping to elect the next President of the United States."  Thus, "helping to elect the next President of the United States" is not a good reason to vote.

Second, the League talks about ballot propositions in California.  I've loved it every time I've been there, but I've never lived or voted in California.  I'll talk about a recent municipal election here in Memphis in which I voted on a measure that would have altered the structure of county government.  As much as I try to be an informed citizen, I had no idea what I was voting on or, for that matter, what it would really change.  Votes are very noisy signals that are in no way analogous to prices, and they suffer from the problem of diffused costs and concentrated benefits.  Consider the "sale of bonds to finance children's hospitals, high-speed rail systems, and veterans' home loans."  I like children, I like the environment, and I like veterans.  But there is no such thing as a free lunch.  Voters are insulated from the tradeoffs necessary for good decision-making.

Next Argument

"Yes" League of Women Voters

• One Vote Can Make the Difference - Will It Be Yours?
  1
• Why Should You Vote in the November 4 Election?
  1
• Why Vote? Your Legislators and Governor are Deciding...
  1

"Yes" Rock the Vote

• Letting Your Voice Be Heard
  1
• Independent and First-Time Voters are Proving Pivotal in This Election
  0
• A New Electoral Map Has Brought Youth Voters Into the Spotlight
  0

"No" Art Carden

• It Depends on What You Mean by "Matter"
  2
• Electoral College: Your Vote Matters Less in Presidential Elections
  1
• Your Vote "Matters" as a Signal of Your Policy Preferences
  1
• Not Everybody Thinks This Way, So You Can Take Others' Votes as Given
  1
• Evidence Suggests That Voter Errors are Systematically Biased
  1

"No" Rob Nelson

• Face the Facts. Increasingly Your Vote Doesn't Matter
  1
• Every Vote Gets Counted, But Often it Doesn't Really Count
  1
• There are Reasons for Low Voter Turnout...Apathy is the Least of Them
  4
• Voting out of Obligation is Worse Than Not Voting at All.
  1

Most Objections

• One Vote Can Make the Difference - Will It Be Yours?
  1
• Why Should You Vote in the November 4 Election?
  1
• Why Vote? Your Legislators and Governor are Deciding...
  1
• Letting Your Voice Be Heard
  1
• Independent and First-Time Voters are Proving Pivotal in This Election
  0

Does My Vote Matter?

• Yes
• No

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