Besides statistical reasons there is now another good reason to not vote. As the number of people who show up to polling places goes down the need to entice voters will go up. After all a democratic state’s “legitimacy” depends entirely on people voting. If the number of voters gets low enough the state will become desperate to maintain its legitimacy and attempt to buy voters’ participation:
Alarmed that fewer than one-fourth of voters are showing up for municipal elections, the Los Angeles Ethics Commission voted Thursday to recommend that the City Council look at using cash prizes to lure a greater number of people to the polls.
On a 3-0 vote, the panel said it wanted City Council President Herb Wesson’s Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee to seriously consider the use of financial incentives and a random drawing during its elections, possibly as soon as next year.
Los Angeles may be a preview of things to come. The number of people participating in this sham called democracy has been steadily decreasing. In Los Angeles there are so few participants that the City Council is entertaining the idea of bribing people to show up to the polling places. Imagine if the rest of the country follow suit. It could lead to voting becoming a productive activity as state agents, in their desperation to appear legitimate, begin to offer us money just to show up to polling places from time to time.
All we need to do is hold out and the state may give us some of the money it stole from us back.