“If you don’t vote, you can’t complain” must be one of the most meaningless and illogical mantras that is periodically spouted during election times. Does this mean that if I choose not to participate in the quadrennial pageant, I lose all my rights as a citizen? Since when is voting the supreme (or only) form of expressing my opinion in a democratic regime?

Refusal to vote is often misconstrued as sheer laziness. Although there is a great degree of truth in that association, I don’t necessarily see voters as people more concerned with current affairs or the destinies of the country. Most people are misinformed and are not even willing to devote more than a few minutes of their life to make informed decisions on anything.

When on Tuesday millions of Americans once again fail to vote, subsidized political analysts should for once consider the fact that unwillingness to do so might also owe to a rejection against the often-noted fact that we are forced to pick between Tweedledee and Tweedledemocrat.

What kind of a democratic system is that in which regulations are enacted so that third parties are systematically denied any meaningful participation, their efforts thwarted from the start to organize themselves, gain access to the media or make it to the ballots? If this is news to you, just look into the nationwide efforts made by the Democratic Party to block Ralph Nader or even smaller candidates from making it to the ballots.

As a politically concerned citizen, I refuse to vote for two candidates with no substantial differences. It’s not as if I cast my vote and then, like most Americans, do nothing else for the next four years that I will be magically entitled to “complain” in a more legitimate manner. As I see it, complaining didn’t deter the government from entangling us in a war for no good reason, outsourcing jobs at a frantic pace, nor holding the Democrats accountable for supporting this with their votes and then feign indignation come election time.

Gonzalo Baeza.

Graduate student, political science