Letters: Readers say why they didn't vote

Recently, the state Democratic committee sent me a letter that stated that, while they wouldn't know for whom I voted in the election, they would know if I didn't vote ["Party will know if you skip vote, Dems told," News, Oct. 31]. They promised that they would be contacting me to find out why I failed to show up at the poll. Let me answer the anticipated question publicly.

First, I didn't vote because I cannot find anyone who really qualifies for office. Some voters in our area had to choose from among candidates who are under indictment for tax fraud, suspected of bribes and graft in public office, or who've shown inadequacy in the positions that they will be vacating.

I also resent the numerous campaign calls, some of them recorded, that interrupted my life, often in the late evening. I've been turned off by the negativity of ads.

Finally, I really cannot believe that millions of dollars are poured into campaigns in this country where so many people are suffering, where many are still homeless, waiting for relief from the losses of Sandy, where food banks are constantly asking for help to provide food to struggling families, and where cuts in education and public services have become the norm. It's unconscionable that candidates spend so much money to gain office and then ignore the needs of this country.

I cannot in good conscience vote in a system that encourages inadequate candidates to run in a society where the "war chest" is a major factor in achieving a government position.

Lorraine Mund, Hicksville
 

A recent letter writer asks people who didn't vote to give a good reason why ["Voting is a right earned by sacrifice," Nov. 7].

I haven't participated in a national election since I voted for Ronald Reagan in 1984. He believed in abolishing nuclear weapons, abolishing communism, and abolishing communism's great protégé, big government.

For whom would I vote today? The Republicans are the party of predatory corporations, low wages, profiteers, and exploiters who'd outsource everyone's job overseas before dropping bombs on countries that never attacked us. The Democrats are the party of parasitic government, high taxes, goldbricks, and leeches who'd give everyone's job to immigrants here illegally before dropping bombs on countries that never attacked us. We have a moral obligation to abstain from this sham.

Voting is meaningless when the system itself is the problem. Would I consider voting in the future? Yes, if the leaders of China, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan or half a dozen other countries became eligible to run for office in America. They, after all, have undertaken policies that have greatly increased their countries' middle class, standard of living, literacy, health care, life expectancy, and commitment to science and technology. And while they believe in a strong military defense, they have not bombed or invaded anyone.

Paul Manton, Levittown