Tomorrow the State of Virginia holds primary elections. As the title of this piece states, I do not plan on participating. There are multiple reasons for this:
First off, I was not even aware of the date of the primaries until last week. This is probably a result of neglecting to watch local television news and an inability to keep up with political blogs since the events of last November (this, you may have noted, has resulted in far less political posts this summer this year than last). As a result, my only real exposure to local politics in the last eight months has been watching a political ad for the frontrunner in the race for the Republican candidate for Governor, Attorney General Jerry Kilgore. Since if I was voting, I would vote in the Democratic primary, though, I do not get to vote for a gubernatorial candidate (Current Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine has already been selected; he has a WordPress blog).
This leads me to my second point; I have never heard of the candidates I am supposed to vote for. It is difficult to get excited about a candidate for the lieutenant governorship. The elections for state delegates are even more confusing, thanks to gerrymandering. The Virginia district maps look like Germany before unification, making it difficult for me whether I am actually in one of the districts in contention.
Finally, the difficulty of voting has increased significantly since last November. Then, I was at school, and thus was able to request an absentee ballot. Now, I would have to find my voter registration card (which, along with my Selective Service registration, I have misplaced), leave the house, travel to some unfamiliar polling place, convince the people there that I was eligible to vote, and then successfully fill out a ballot. Contrast this with the elections this November. Not only will I get to vote for the next state governor, but I will be able to do it from the safety and comfort of my own dorm room.
