http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/poorest-americans-dropped-politics-3691/ Nationally Acclaimed Politics, Science and Culture Coverage Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:00:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/poorest-americans-dropped-politics-3691/#comment-382 Mark E. Smith Wed, 27 May 2009 01:35:16 +0000 http://blog.miller-mccune.com.s72010.gridserver.com/2009/05/21/how-the-poorest-americans-dropped-out-of-politics/#comment-382 In the only poll I know of that ever asked them, a Zogby poll commissioned by Paul Lehto, many non-voters gave their reason for not voting as being that none of the candidates on the ballot would represent their interests. Why should poor people vote for rich people?But in believing voting to be a sham, the disadvantaged are closer to the truth than voters are, as I explain in this article:Is Your Vote Your Voice in Government?http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/72/80413.html?1242941710In the United States, not only are ballot options limited, but candidates are routinely sworn into office before elections are certified and before it is possible to finish counting the votes.Moreover, our Constitution ensured that the popular vote would not be the final say in who took office and could be overridden by the Electoral College, Congress being the sole judge of the "elections, returns, and qualifications" of its own Members, elections officials who preside over secret vote counts and announce unverifiable results, one candidate conceding before the votes are counted, or by Supreme Court intervention. There may be other safeguards the Founders inserted to ensure that power over government would never reside in the hands of the people, but those are five we are familiar with. To my mind, the question is, when our votes don't even have to be counted before a candidate is sworn into office, why do so-called educated and privileged people continue to vote? In the only poll I know of that ever asked them, a Zogby poll commissioned by Paul Lehto, many non-voters gave their reason for not voting as being that none of the candidates on the ballot would represent their interests. Why should poor people vote for rich people?But in believing voting to be a sham, the disadvantaged are closer to the truth than voters are, as I explain in this article:Is Your Vote Your Voice in Government?http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/72/80413.html?1242941710In the United States, not only are ballot options limited, but candidates are routinely sworn into office before elections are certified and before it is possible to finish counting the votes.Moreover, our Constitution ensured that the popular vote would not be the final say in who took office and could be overridden by the Electoral College, Congress being the sole judge of the “elections, returns, and qualifications” of its own Members, elections officials who preside over secret vote counts and announce unverifiable results, one candidate conceding before the votes are counted, or by Supreme Court intervention. There may be other safeguards the Founders inserted to ensure that power over government would never reside in the hands of the people, but those are five we are familiar with. To my mind, the question is, when our votes don’t even have to be counted before a candidate is sworn into office, why do so-called educated and privileged people continue to vote?

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