Don't Vote, You'll Just Encourage Them

I'm not really trying to tell you not to vote. That quote was said on a news radio station back in August. I think he was talking about the crazy race for the White House, but he had a point.

I dislike a lot about election time. The not-quite-right way our voting system works being at the top of the list. I also don't like exit pollers, and mudslinging, and how people can get so crazed with their campaign that they forgot why they're running in the first place. But this time, there is one thing that bugged me more than anything else: the signs.

Yes, everywhere you look, there are signs with someones name on them. There are fifty signs clustered together per candidate (and Virginia was electing their entire general assembly today) in each strip of median on the parkway. And even though the voting ends in about an hour, those signs are going to be highway litter by tomorrow, and they'll remain where they are for months.

The only purpose they serve, as related to the election, is name recognition. Many areas have already proven that sometimes name recognition is all you need to win. But after Election Day, those signs should be gone.

Some cities in Maryland had elections today, but the signage was not nearly as bad as it was in Northern Virginia. I'm quite tired of seeing hundreds of pink names on purple backgrounds, and white names on green and blue backgrounds, and yellow names on black backgrounds line my way home from work every day. It's like the candidates where competing about who could put up the most little signs on one street corner, and they had a new game at every street corner. Will those people be out there tomorrow picking them up? Of course not.

Usually, after every Election Day, there is some store of some kind that will give people coupons for every candidate sign they bring in off the road. One year, I think a store gave something like ten cents per sign. That can add up fast when there are so many out there. I'm not sure why they do that, other than caring about removing the trash from the roadways. When I think about it, that's reason enough.

Just remember, don't encourage them. And to all you professional politicians, PICK UP YOUR DAMN SIGNS!!