How much effort do you put into voting?

[DaFace]

I spent a few hours last night voting for this year's elections (mail ballot). I have no idea what's typical, but there were probably a total of 20 different races (governor, senator, house rep, and a ton of state-level offices), about 15 different judges that I had to vote to retain or give the boot, and probably 7-8 ballot issues (state and local) to vote on.

I always approach it from the perspective of making an informed decision, so I spent at least a few minutes on each of the ballot issues making sure I understood the arguments for/against (using the "blue book" put out by the state). The judges are always pretty straightforward - I just mainly go through the recommendations in our little guide and go with those unless there's someone who has been contentious.

For the big races, I even spent a few minutes reading about the opinions of each candidate and tried to come to an informed decision on those too. But after a while, you can hardly even find information on some of the tiny races like county commissioner and the like, so I inevitably eventually end up just voting party line on some of those (though I kind of feel bad about it).

So...how much effort do you put into it?

(P.S. Let's keep this a-political if possible. This is about the process - not the parties involved.)

[Bl00dyBizkitz]

Admittedly, I don't vote.

So none.

[CaliforniaChief]

A lot. It's important. People die for my right to do it. It matters.

[Scorp]

I watched this video, does that count?

[Katipan]

We paid $1.40 for the privilege.

[The Franchise]

I work in elections. We repeatedly get turnouts in the 20-30% range. Add in the fact that people have no clue about registering to vote. No matter how much outreach there is....people are dumb when it comes to voting.

[Dayze]

I've never voted.

[The Franchise]

And none of it matters anyways. People will religiously vote along party lines. It doesn't matter who is running and how much of an asshole they are. THEN add in that politicians make the reading material long and confusing on purpose.....and this is what you get.

[temper11]

I'm probably in between 3 and 4. I went ahead and selected 3 for the poll because I tend to be self-deprecating in that way. It varies from election year to election year and with how much time I put into it.

[BigMeatballDave]

It's pointless.

Unless there is serious change in DC, voting is a complete waste.

The current 2-party system is a dumpster fire.

The blind reeruns that vote party only are as much to blame as the ****stick politicians.

**** each and everyone who only votes for a party, or for religious purposes.

[Katipan]

All that may be true but I had to let Pit Bulls back in.

[Donger]

I have a person who does this for me.

[TrebMaxx]

I do my research so that I know what I am voting for. It does seem at times it doesn't really matter but I feel better about myself that I did.

[jimidollar]

I think voting is pointless. However, I still do it because it takes two minutes of my time. This year I voted mostly Libertarian with a few Republicans mixed in as well. Voting was a lot more fun when I could pull the lever for Ron Paul. Now I'm represented by a ****ing walrus.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Well informed. However, I refused to vote in 2012 Presidential as I refused to cast a vote for the "lesser of two evils" candidate. I'd like a candidate I can actually support rather than the one I dislike the least.