Elections come and go, but one peculiar fact remains – your vote counts, but it doesn’t matter – to the outcome that is. There it is, I said it. Leagues of Women Voters, good-government advocates, and the civically virtuous, precious right-to-vote crowd will gasp in horror. But it’s true – your vote will be counted, but in nearly every election it won’t change the outcome.
Why? Because your vote doesn’t matter for any election decided by more than one vote. That’s an infinitely microscopic set of contests that few have ever experienced. And even if a contest ends in a tie, it will be broken by the flip of a coin. But please, write avenging letters of rebuttal telling how your vote decided the 7th-grade class president contest or the All-Soiled Sewer District Commissioner position #3.
When election results are tight, lawsuits are filed, and votes challenged. Some ballots will be deemed eligible despite not clearly complying with existing voting laws. The real decisions as to which votes matter are made by judges hearing arguments over what improperly cast ballots should be tossed aside and which ones will be accepted.
So, why does every election, whether for school board or president find me completing a ballot and casting it as quickly as the laws of my state allow? For those who haven’t arrived at the stage where hypocrisy becomes practical, here’s how I’ve squared the circle. The sooner my ballot is cast, the more swiftly each piece of campaign mail can be recycled, with negative TV commercials and puff profiles ignored in their entirety.
Elections are like any social gathering – everyone comes to the party for a different reason. There are as many motivations, as voters. Partisans vote along party lines regardless of candidate competence hoping for impressive margins of victory and compelling mandates. Some are persuaded solely by race, sex, ethnicity, or attractive-sounding names or photos. Single issue voters are most easily motivated by fear. Others carefully review voter pamphlets as if studying the Torah, determined to pick the best from the mediocre by scrutinizing vaguely written policy statements. A few do it to avoid being shamed by their politically active friends.
All the while, the ballots of the least-informed are counted equally against the voter who’s watched every debate, carefully studied each issue, and thoughtfully considered the consequence of their choices.
Knowing all of this, I never miss an election and always follow my own set of biases. Never vote for a candidate running unopposed. Always vote against the prohibitive favorite, if for no other reason than to check their ego. Vote No unless presented with a compelling reason to vote Yes, except for confusing referendums when a No vote means Yes.
Here’s the real vote that should concern you – the ones made every day. Rather than fret about elections whose outcomes you won’t change, why not focus on your most consequential votes – how you spend money. Every dollar spent is a vote for the products and services you want. Those votes are counted by the hour and create the economy and culture we collectively choose. They constitute the key decisions that really shape our lives.
Be the change you want to see by considering what you buy and how you buy it. Those votes matter.
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In the spirit of presenting both sides of an issue, I asked my schoolmate, long-life friend, and former Assistant Attorney General of New Mexico, Chris Coppin to prepare a spirited rebuttal, which he submitted as a Letter to the Editor at the Courier-Herald.
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Editor – I read with great interest the recent opinion piece by my long-time friend, Bill Kombol, and found his positions on voting and consumer spending to be short-sighted.
Voter turnout in America is low compared to many other countries and opinions like Mr. Kombol’s can only drive it lower. His position that your vote doesn’t matter because races are not won by a single vote fails to see the emerald forest for the trees.
While the outcome of this year’s presidential race in many states is certain, it is imperative that those supporting the losing candidate turn out to demonstrate the support they do have so future candidates can determine strategies to gather support in future elections. Remember, Ronald Reagan did not win on his first attempt to gain the Republican primary nomination, but his support was substantial and demonstrated his viability as a future candidate.
How close a vote is also sends a message to the winner. If they win by a large margin they may have a mandate to act on proposed policies. If there is insufficient support, compromises should be made. Other reasons to vote send important messages, such as split-ticket voting, voter characteristics, voter turnout, and voting trends.
As to Mr. Kombol’s argument that your economic choices are more important than voting, he cross-dresses economics as politics and it makes little sense to me. For example, I expressed my preferences by buying gas-powered cars but that is not going to stop politicians from forcing me to buy electric vehicles in the future. It does little good for me to buy bottle rockets to support our national defense. I must vote for those candidates who support my positions in the hopes my dreams for the future of this country will come to pass.
Chris Coppin
Fort Worth, Texas
Post Script: I wrote in Chris Coppin’s name for President on my 2024 ballot.
4 replies on “Your Vote Counts, But It Doesn’t Matter”
Christopher Coppin gets this one, but I adore you both!
Oh Lynne, you always favored the Catholic boys!
This is a wonderful exercise. First I have voted in every Presidental election since tricky Dicky. And I did not vote for Nixon. I felt so empowered until my guy lost and we got Nixon anyway. You know how that all turned out.
But yes it is a flip of the coin and too many complain about it but don’t even vote. I find that a more hypocritical than any of this should we or should we not or does it matter.
Lastly, Love the daily vote for products using our buying power. I take it a step further by encouraging everyone to do something every day you love and spend time with those you love. That is a vote that is never wasted.
Keep up the dialog and yes today I will be recycling election flyers. But… yes mis wordy has another thing to say. Yesterday I got a full letter from Friends of Woo who is running for Seattle Council. I skimmed thru it and that confirmed I voted correctly for her.
Now lastly… keep up the good blogging!! This is what changes the world a little bit everyday.
Robin – 1972 was my first election as well, having received the right to vote on July 1, 1971, five days before my 18th birthday when we 18-year-old were granted that precious right by the 26th amendment. I, too voted for George McGovern, though I’d been a big supporter of Nixon four years earlier as a 14-year old. My break with him came in August 1971 when he imposed wage and price controls and took the dollar off the gold standard. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I went on to major in Economics at the U.W. This essay was fun to right, but I knew it was hypocritical, so recruited my life-long pal to craft a rebuttal. I like to make people think, rather than accept platitudes on blind faith. Thanks for you comments and dialog – in the marketplace of ideas, the best eventually rise to the top, though it can be an excruciatingly long and winding road through what Tom Wolfe liked to call, “the human comedy.”