Voting in a privilege we have in this country.  Unfortunately, only about 30 % of people vote.  We have had voting rates in the general election go over 50% but this is rare. 

In North Carolina we have a population of apx 8.5 million people, we have 5,567,424 registered voters; 2,533,424 being registered as Democrat and 1,923,047 Republican the remaining 1,110,953 are registered as unaffiliated.

The below is a compilation of facts about voting and contains some opinions of how you should register and vote to be an effective citizen and make the most of one of our most precious rights of voting in a free society.

Voter Registration

In NC one may register only one of three ways; Democrat, Republican and Unaffiliated.  There is so such thing as registering as an independent.  You can change your registration any amount of times, you can do this be going to your county board of elections office, send in your registration by mail or register when you get your drivers license.  You may only register in one county and one state.  Individual who are registered in more than one state may be committing  voter fraud and in some cases this is a felony. You have 25 days before an election to change your registration, so if you are going to do so do so now.

In you register as a Democrat you may vote only in the Democrat primary, the same holds true if you register as a Republican you may vote only in the Republican primary.  One of the common myths is if you do not register in one of these declared party's you may not vote in the primary--not true. 

Opinion: The voter gains the most power and flexibility by registering as  "unaffiliated."  This allows the one who registers as unaffiliated to vote in EITHER primary (not both) and allows the voter to select the candidate they like the most irregardless of party.  If you just love either party you can still vote that way.  This gives you the most flexibility in how you vote.  It also gives you a couple other benefits, you will receive less campaign literature to clog your mail box and you will receive less political phone calls. The party's don't like this as they have less control over the populous as they cannot tell who will blindly vote in the primary for their candidate.  Registering as unaffiliated has no effect on how you vote in the general election.

Voting and how you can be the most effective

When you vote a common myth is that if you don't vote in all the races your ballot will be invalid--not true.  You can vote in every race or just one.  If you vote in just one race you voter is counted in that race, an your ballot is valid.  If you make an error and vote for more than one candidate in a one candidate race your vote in that particular race is rejected but the rest of your ballot will be valid..  In the general election if you vote straight party you vote for all candidates who are in partisan races but you must vote separately for the President. Unaffiliated voters can vote a straight ticket for either party in the general election, of course their is no straight ticket voting in the primary.

Opinion:  Voting a straight party ticket causes you to vote for all in that party.  What about the person in the party that you don't like or don't even know, you vote for them in a straight party vote.  I can't understand why anyone would vote for someone they don't know about or have never even heard of.  Party's like to see straight ticket voting because they believe you are not smart enough to pick candidates from the pool on the ballot. Get smart!  My suggestion is pick a race you are interested in and have time to research, then vote in that race.  Do this for all the races you re interested in.  If there are other races and you have no idea who the candidate is or what he/she stands for then don't vote in that particular race.   YOU are responsible for the person you vote for and if they get elected YOU are responsible for their actions.

The Primary:

One of most import but most ignored in the primary.  Not all Democrats or Republicans are equal.  In the race for the governor here in NC the primary will decide who will be your next governor.  Voting in the primary is as or even more important than the vote in the general election.

Opinion:  We have not had a Republican governor in NC since 1992 and given the view of the Republican party nationally it is highly unlikely we will have a Republican governor in 2008.  This makes the primary the most important race for governor in 2008.  Who wins the Democratic primary will be the next governor of NC.  If you want to be a part of the process and make a difference you must vote in the primary.  The very best way to vote in the primary is by registering as unaffiliated and voting for the Democratic candidate you believe will best represent you, even if you are a conservative you can vote for the most conservative Democratic candidate thus insuring a conservative will be elected.

Candidate Registration:

In NC candidates can register in either the Democrat or Republican party.  The person decides what party he registers in and in what party he runs, the party has no say as to who will represent them in any election, that is for the people to decide.  So any person may declare they are a Democrat or Republican and, by law, that is the party they will run in regardless of the opinion of any party or anyone else.  Candidates may register as unaffiliated but the process is complicated and difficult to get on the ballot.

Don't Waste Your Vote:

I hear this all the time don't waste your vote, I think this means don't vote for the person who doesn't have the most money or who is not number one in the polls.  So like mind numbed robots we look at the polls or the news to tell us who is ahead and because we want top vote for a winner we vote the way they have directed us.  I hope this is wrong. I hope we as a populous are not that shallow as to put our own ego in front of our good common sense.  You see if that is the way we are going to do this let's just publicize who raises the most money and then crown them the winner the day before the election.  We would same millions on an election that has already been resolved by the media and what they tell us.

I think voting is a private and personal thing.  It comes from the heart not from the television.  If you think the candidate with the most money will make the best elected official then by all means use this as your personal criteria to vote.  But if your criteria is to vote for the person who will do the best job for all the citizens of the community  then that person may not be the richest or the one who can raise the most money.  I have looked at a web site for a presidential candidate, right in the middle is a big green button that says "donate" if that is their most important thing they have to tell you or that they want from you OK, but I operate differently.  My emphasis is on the people not the money so on my website you will see issues and information that you can use to make an educated determination of who to vote for.

Can you waste your vote?  Sure and the best way to waste your vote is to not follow your head or your heart and vote for the person with the most money.  Do this and your violate your personal integrity and then your vote will surely be wasted.

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