My Thoughts about Wasted Votes

Istvan

The “wasted vote” is a concept that keeps popping up as we approach election day. I have had my own struggles with it and have come up with three conclusive thoughts:

One.

In my mind – even if I bring it down to the purely strategic (tactical?) level – it presents itself as a self-fulfilling prophecy: “I don’t give my vote to a party that I think doesn’t have the chance to reach 5%.” By this I take away a fraction of the possible support (exactly one vote) that could have gone towards that party, helping it to reach 5%.

The more people who think along these lines, the less support goes towards any party that’s not already in parliament and thus the status quo is maintained. Not necessarily the distribution of seats but the system stays unchanged.

Two.

Having recently watched the ‘River of Freedom‘, thoughts and emotions came back. Despite being only a visitor for a few days and only watching from a distance the shockingly inhuman finale, I can’t find any trust in myself towards all those who let it happen by stepping aside without doing anything. How can I not feel any other way than that my vote is WASTED if I give it to any one of those?

I can accept the view that mine is an emotional decision where a cool head is needed instead. And I agree with you to a certain extent: it is emotional but not 100%.

Consider that if it is really true that left/right, red/blue, socialist/capitalist…are just expressions of the same power behind the scenes, then it actually makes no difference whether you vote for Labour or National.

Three.

I am a Christian and in my worldview our reality has a material and a spiritual side as well, both being equally important; morality being one of the tethers binding them together. If I vote for a party I truly support based on principles, for me that means drawing a line in the sand and making a conscious choice based on my fullest (though never complete) understanding.

In the end, its perceivable impact on material reality could seem nil, but I do believe that from a spiritual perspective, it is important. I would not feel regret later on for standing up and being true to who I am.

Overall what is the difference between a minor and a major party? Only numbers. To reach a ‘major party’ level nothing else is needed but voters. No years of preparation, no requirements that would take a long time to fulfil, nothing like that. Purely numbers.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that this is a huge thing (i.e. getting enough votes) but I only wish to emphasise that the difference is not in quality but in quantity only from that perspective. My intention is not to convince you, Dear Reader, to vote for any party, nor even to give up your approach to voting strategically. I respect freedom of choice and that includes not just my freedom of choice but yours, too. I only wanted to show other approaches when it comes to making that choice when exercising that freedom.