‘If you don’t vote, you can’t complain,’ is a silly sentiment

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/10/2010 (5640 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I vote. I love voting. I haven’t missed an election in my entire life, right from junior high class president on up.

I also love complaining — big time.

But I can’t see what one has to do with the other.

Every election (and often in between) you’ll see and hear people spouting off that if you don’t vote, you’re not allowed to complain.

That’s bunk.

Are 17-year-olds allowed to complain? They can’t vote. What about people who happened to be in a coma on Election Day? Also provented from voting through no fault of their own. And those are just the obvious extremes.

There are tons of legitimate reasons for not voting. Some people say that journalists should refrain from voting, because it might lead to bias. Should journalists then stop writing stories that are critical of the government?

Some ethicists go so far as to say that bureaucrats and civil servants shouldn’t vote. Some people say that police officers, jail guards and judges especially shouldn’t vote (they should enforce the law, not help make it).

Should those people be stripped of their right to free speech — to freely complain — because they hold themselves to a high ethical standard?

I would hope not.

But it’s not always high ethics that prevents voting. I know lots of people who are discouraged with democracy and don’t think that their single vote will matter. I argue with them, but it’s tough to argue when I often find myself voting for a losing candidate (I even voted for myself, once).

Sadly, it’s true that one person’s vote just doesn’t count for muchr. On the other hand, a very motivated complainer can get an awful lot accomplished. In fact, if black people or women hadn’t complained, they STILL wouldn’t be voting.

Some people don’t vote because they don’t like any of the candidates, and the ballot doesn’t offer a "none of the above" option. Should people who are disgusted with all politicians be forced to hold their noses and vote for one anyway, just so they can complain?

Other people don’t vote because they think any of the candidates would be fine choices. Maybe it’s a choice between two people who will both do excellent jobs. But what if, two years down the road, the job being done is no longer excellent? Should a person previously happy just suck it up and shut up?

The sentiment of "if you don’t vote, you can’t complain" has always bugged me. I know that people are frustrated with those who complain all the time, but never actually do anything — even the littlest thing, even voting — to make things better.

But there are plenty of reasons why someone might not be politically engaged during the one day every four years that happens to be Election Day. If they do happen to have an opinion during one of the other 1,200-odd days, why is that frowned upon?

And if you really don’t think that non-voters should be allowed to have an opinion, then you have to make it cut both ways. So how come you never hear people say "If you don’t vote, you can’t approve."

That’ll fix those non-voting optimists!

(But seriously — you should vote. Because it nothing else, it will dramatically improve the emotional investment you have in complaining.)