Posted 1:17 PM by Floyd

A few days after Anne Salisbury was nice enough to blogroll me, I posted two contentious comments on her blog. (On Thanksgiving. Gratitude is my middle name.) My comments were about subjects that I have been interested in blogging, so I will expand on them here.

First, Anne linked to a San Francisco Chronicle article about a Capitola City Council election that was decided by one vote (after two recounts, I might add). Anne said that this was proof that your vote does matter.

Before the elections I saw a blog post about how your vote matters, and in the past I have seen similar articles in email, on Usenet, and in newspapers. The standard format of such an argument is to provide citations which appear at first glance to be urban legends. Consider that the city of Capitola's council election -- where 10,000 citizens selected from candidates with no discernable difference -- is the most important and largest election I have ever seen cited as evidence that your vote matters. (Also consider that the Capitola city council is unlikey to decide the legality of abortion, marijuana, or gun possession.)

Another argument I saw recently was that one vote per precinct in Florida would have elected Al Gore. This is hardly relevant, since I am not registered to vote in all of Florida's precincts. As Regis Philbin would say, I am only one man.