5/20/2002: Sierra Leone voter

[bluebomber]

Originally posted by sypher
Just to put this into my perspective (and i know its incomparable) but i was the ONLY person in my circle of friends to vote at either the most recent general and local elections.

I realise it means very little as an individual these days to vote in a 'democracy', but what has happened to the guy in the IOTD is barbaric, if the story behind it is correct.

Speaking from a US perspective, with the 2000 elections still fresh in our memory, it very much *does* mean something for an individual to vote. Chads aside, if another few hundred individuals had turned up at the polls in Florida (or if a few hundred had stayed home), the world would be a different place. (I'm not saying necessarily better or worse, just different.)

I try to make it a point to vote in every election (local, state, and national), although I have missed one or two local elections. If you look at election results in New Hampshire, you'll find that there are a number of local elections that were decided by less than a hundred votes. Several were overturned on recount (including a tie that was decided in a recount).