US citizens fill their ballots in a temporary polling station at the Ocean County courthouse in Toms River, New Jersey, November 4, 2012.
Tue Nov 6, 2012 11:15AM GMT
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At least 58 percent of eligible voters in the United States have decided not to participate in the US presidential election, arguing that their votes will have no effect on their future, a report says.
Various studies, however, suggest that, many of the non-participant Americans are committed to political participation in their society, anyway.
“I won’t participate in the elections, because I think the US governmental system is fundamentally illegitimate. I believe the US electoral system only paves the way for the legitimization of a government that is directed from above and under an oligarchic system,” Keith Preston of “Attack The System” group said.
“Attack The System” does not believe in the US government and advocates the distribution of power among public and private institutions.
Preston said the members of the group sought the establishment of a system that could reflect the will of the majority, rather than fulfilling the interests of the small group that is now in control of everything.
Voting in the election inspires the feeling of participation, but in reality limits your choice, he went on to say.
He said political participation does not only mean going to the polling stations and casting ballots.
I believe the US imperialist system is very large and passive, and is unable to balance itself, he continued. It will collapse from inside just as all empires throughout the history finally collapsed, Preston opined.
In fact, the supporters of the US Democratic and Republican parties only comprise 30 percent of the voters; hence, if we consider the non-participants as a statistical sample, its number will exceed the number of the two parties’ supporters.
Yet, some Americans say they belong to a ‘third party’, who supports neither incumbent President Barack Obama, nor his rival, Mitt Romney.
A Baltimore citizen also said he wouldn’t go to the polls in order to show his protest against the US two-party system. “I am sure my favorite candidate won’t win and my vote will consequently favor the winner of the race, which won’t reveal my protest against the two-party system,” he added.
Another young American woman said she might choose a third party candidate.
Meanwhile, many analysts believe the boycott of the elections by the non-participants will play into the hands of the Republicans.
AO/HJL
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