I'm going to get myself in a lot of trouble for this one, but after the overwhelming amount of logic that tells me there's no reason for me to vote, I thought now would be a good time to put down a list of reasons why. This is just what I see and what logic tells me...

A single vote is futile.

1. My single vote is lost within the counting margin-of-error in my voting district. (Florida recounts?)
   
2. Voting is private, meaning there is nobody to verify that my vote is counted.
   
3. The population of my state (1,969,915) is compressed into 5 one-party electoral college votes.
   
4. On 158 occasions, electors have cast their votes for President or Vice President in a manner different from that of the state they represented. They reserve the right, afterall.
   
5. In the (never happening) event that my single vote were the deciding factor in an election - then this is a very fragile system indeed.
   

The power of the vote is not equal.

1. A large number of votes are bought by advertising and not by informed decision.
   
   
   
   • Advertisements use cinematic, musical, voice-over, scenery, and editing techniques to skew a candidate's image. Check out this review of one of McCain's ads.
     
   • Advertisements distort the truth and focus on issues that are insignificant.
     
   • Voter psychology necessitates the use of perpetual lies regardless of the truth.
     
   • Many advertisements are based on semantic spins. "Obama wants universal health care. Is that so? Health care, for the entire universe? Even Osama Bin Laden?" Hahaha!
     
   • Lies will get votes, because people don't have the means to verify the truth. (McCain Ad spins)
     
   • Conversely, campaigns set up websites and organizations to "spread the truth" (usually spread their truth)
     
   • There are no unbiased sources for information.
     
   
   
2. A wealthy celebrity has significantly more voting influence than I do - Matt Daemon, Oprah, or Letterman effectively squash my vote.
   
3. Criminals cannot vote. More than 50% of African Americans are registered "criminals".
   

The majority of people who vote do so for the wrong reasons.

1. A large number of voters are more concerned with insignificant issues "is he wearing blue jeans, did he eat at McDonalds, was he a smoker in his past life, is he wearing the pin?"
   
2. There is a difference between what a country wants and what a country needs.
   
3. People vote for who they like best and not who is the most qualified.
   
4. A big part of a candidate's campaign is not based on the reality of their platform, but the open-ended projected reality of the voter.
   
5. A large number of people vote along party lines and not on issues.
   

Voting for president means supporting misconceptions.

1. The power of a president is a marginal part of our government.
   
2. A candidate does not do what he says he will do once he gets into office and typically bases a campaign on issues that are outside of his power (e.g. taxes and government spending.) CNN article.
   
3. Winning an election does not mean he is good for president, it means he is good at winning elections.
   

Personally...

1. I don't want to vote for anyone who has to fight for office.
   
2. It would make a bigger "difference" for me to pick up the litter in a small park for 5 minutes than spend 30min-1hr submitting my vote.
   
3. I don't want to support an institution that puts the decision of our nation's leader in the hands of a weak-minded, advertising and propaganda manipulated public.
   
4. By not voting, I am saying that I do not wish to participate in mass delusion.
   

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