No one can force you to vote, that’s your decision, and no one else’s
You probably feel compelled to vote on Nov. 6, what with all the TV ads and mailings. But the reality is that you are not required to vote, and there should be no shame for exercising such a choice. For the United States doesn’t have a paternalistic voter registration and voting system as illustrated by about a dozen other nations that require the practice, some even levying fines.
Although one is not compelled to register and vote, that means a very low turnout percentage on Election Day. Even in the heated political campaign of 2016, only 58 percent voted. To be sure, there were times in our history when the percentage was high, as were voters — in the 70 and 80 percentiles — because the system in the 19th century as the suffrage was extended to more and more people rested on booze. That’s right. States took little part in overseeing the drama, and candidates induced voters by giving them unlimited amounts of alcohol on voting day to accept and cast a ballot in their favor. Little wonder that states for years closed liquor stores on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in the 11th month. South Carolina still does so.
No doubt, Americans have a right to vote, but it’s not a civic duty. Rather, it is an expression of choice or speech — one of our most sacred liberties. One can speak or choose to be silent, and in the latter instance, is the freedom not to speak or choose. Some might argue that if you don’t vote, then you have no right to complain. Sorry, Charlie the tuna, but you do under the First Amendment. You can complain all you want.
You see, there are very few things that you’re required to do under the law. At sporting events, you don’t have to take off your hat, stand up and sing the national anthem. And if you’re a player, you can kneel if you choose to do so. If you choose to streak across the field stark naked in the midst of a game, you can do so, although you’ll probably get a hefty fine and maybe even jail time. That happened when Yogi Berra played for the Yankees years ago. One of his teammates, who was absent after one of those streaking events, asked Yogi, “Were they males or females?” Yogi thought a moment, and then said, “I couldn’t tell. They were wearing hats.”
You don’t have to pledge allegiance to the flag, and although there’s no outward prayer station in Minneapolis.
in public schools as a result of Supreme Court opinions, children can learn a useful lesson from their parents to pray privately or silently in their classroom. Some of my students used to tell me that my examinations were an inducement for private prayer — both before and after the ordeal.
Why freedom of speech and choice became so important to the Founding Fathers devising the Constitution is related to the horrible acts that some Americans perpetrated during the break with Britain. The most conservative estimate is that 20 percent of residents did not favor the American Revolution. Their freedom to side with Great Britain and make no effort to help the rebels wasn’t honored. The rabble or deplorables in society took the opportunity of the Loyalists to tar and feather them, seize their property and even drive them out of the country.
As I point out in my high-school textbook: “The Revolution was more than a revolt. It was a civil war that bitterly divided families and neighbors. … Both Patriots and Loyalists included Americans from all walks of life and from all parts of America. In general, however, New England and Virginia had the greatest share of Patriots. The Loyalists were most numerous in New York State, among Scottish immigrants of the Carolinas, and in the seaboard cities. Among those tending to remain neutral were the Quaker and the German population of Pennsylvania.”
Not surprisingly, the stain and shame of the Revolution’s assault on the basic freedom of speech and conscience were not lost on the Constitution-makers, especially James Madison, who crafted the Bill of Rights, putting freedom of speech as No. 1. “Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties or his possessions.”
It should be noted that many religious groups in the United States oppose taking part in certain matters in this world, and that includes voting. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, Hutterites, Exclusive Brethren and the Amish, to name but a few, are cases in point, with some believing that the political system is corrupt and therefore sinful to participate in. The Mormon Church, on the other hand, although not opposing voting by members, restricts the church hierarchy to “neutrality in partisan political matters.”
So if you don’t want to vote next week, that’s nobody’s business but your own.
And if voters sport their little stick-on next Tuesday that states “I voted,” you can stay silent or devise your own little badge that reads: “I didn’t.”