Get out there and vote!

If you’re a U.S. citizen, have you voted yet? You can find your polling place by searching on Google for [where do I vote] or [polling place] or [where to vote]. We’ll even give you a map:

Example map

If you’re at all worried that the polling place doesn’t sound right, Google also gives a link to your state voting place locator on the left-hand side of the screen.

I’d like all my U.S citizen readers to be voting today. The election in 2000 came down to a few hundred votes in Florida, so your vote can absolutely make a difference. You’ll feel good today, and if you want to complain over the next couple years, you’ll be able to start with “Hey, I voted in the last election and I think…” 🙂

17 Responses to Get out there and vote! (Leave a comment)

  1. It’s perfectly rational for some people to not vote, or people not to vote on some issues. Some discussion in http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2006/11/election-day-approaches.html , for example.

    I don’t think we should encourage _or_ discourage people from voting.

  2. Peter, it is tough for me to watch countries like Afghanistan, where people die going to the polls, have higher voter turn out rates as a percentage of eligible voters than the United States of America (at least comparing Afghani 2010 parliamentary elections to typical American midterms – hopefully voter turnout during this 2010 election will be above the 40% threshold). I don’t think we should encourage ignorance as a valid argument against voting.

  3. Will this be available for Canadians in the anticipated forthcoming election?

  4. Oh I voted and it was GOOD! I actually took my kids (4 & 5) along to get them a little exposure to democracy. But they were more interested in the Koi pond out front of the voting place!

  5. Thank god I am not a U.S. citizen. I mean, your campaigns go on and on and on since the president was sworn in. I mean, in Canada and elsewhere in the world, we just laugh at you – the United States for what seems like an eternity of non stop campaigning. We can’t figure the nasty politics has gone to a whole new level of low from my perception.

    In Canada, we have 1 of the best economies bar none and at max our political campaigns maybe last 6 to 8 weeks. Even then, we think that is too long. I mean, how many times do you need to hear the same message from a candidate.

    People in the United States please remember – you are 12 Trillion plus in debt and unfunded is like 60 trillion. It will take years to get out of this hole no matter who is in power.

    Good luck is all I can say.

  6. Don’t complain about things the government is doing or not doing if you don’t do your part and Vote! Every vote does count 🙂

  7. Long time, no comment, but I couldn’t let this one go.

    As a Canadian, I just wanted to say that Darrell does not speak for all of us. Some of us don’t laugh at Americans and are quite happy to both operate as sellers and buyers in the US marketplace on various levels. By the way, Darrell, the campaigning doesn’t stop outside of a Canadian election, at least in Ontario…the political jockeying is already starting for the Toronto municipal election in 2014 and to a greater extent the Ontario provincial election next year. They may not actively campaign and ring doorbells as such, but the mudslinging is in mid-campaign form in some pockets.

    So I’d like to apologize on behalf of those Canadians who believe that our neighbors to the immediate south are equals, enjoy the NFL on Sundays, love the World Series, quote the Simpsons at every opportunity (which is a perfectly cromulent activity, by the way) and dig shopping in Buffalo.

    Just one thing, though…if you’re done with Sarah Palin, can we have her for a while?

  8. Curiosity question re: Peter Kasting’s comment. If I wanted to “cast a non-vote” in the federal election here in the Great White North, I could show up at a polling station, refuse the ballot by giving it back to a polling station official, and this is effectively recorded as a “vote for no one”. Does that exist anywhere else?

  9. OK Adam – fair enough – I used the wrong term when I said laugh and I do apologize sincerely and will own up for that mis-step of language. It was inappropriate and wrong use of language. It is my own perception and not the rest of Canada as Adam pointed out correctly.

    So again – I do apologize for giving the wrong impression – I hope that will suffice to everyone.

  10. @Peter Kasting – there is a very practical reason why you should vote and it is this – you are counted. Do you want the winner in a 51%/49% region to win by 61% and claim a larger mandate from their constituents and they really have? Every vote counts even if your candidate loses.

    And if you happen to support the minority party you really will have something to complain about in the upcoming term.

  11. I’m from Belgium and here you’re legally obliged to vote. So going to vote or not isn’t the question. It’s like Matt stated your vote always count’s. What’s important is to be a conscious voter. Know what or whom your voting for. Be suspicious of politicians who only can throw dirt, it usually means they have nothing else on offer. Speak up if you don’t agree, the internet is a great place to speak out. Be reasonable, politics is a complicated business, democratic decisions take time, after all Rome isn’t build in a day.

  12. Is there any truth in the story on Politico.com that the Election Centre may have sent voters to the wrong polling station? I’m not in the US, but I’m just interested:

    Politico Article

  13. Go Vote and make your voice heard..the country is struggling as we speck..but we will over come it..

    “TrafficColeman “Signing Off”

  14. I personally enjoyed the Google election results map, sure beat watching the news the entire night/morning/rest of the day for the results of the election!

    I am very happy with the election results as well!

  15. I actually used this the other day to find my local polling place. 🙂

  16. I did. I voted. It was epic.

    Well, not really, but I put my two cents into the process, as usual.

  17. I truly utilized this the other day to seek out my neighborhood polling place.

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