Non Expedit

[Solo81]

Not in our system, you couldn't. And voting is compulsory here, which is what prompted the question.

Have you at least the option to spoil your vote?

 

[Paidiske]

Have you at least the option to spoil your vote?

Well, you're not supposed to, but there's also no one standing over you in the voting booth, so some people do. It's a very small percentage, though. By the time you've gone out, queued, and are standing there with your ballot, you might as well vote!

 

[Solo81]

Well, you're not supposed to, but there's also no one standing over you in the voting booth, so some people do. It's a very small percentage, though. By the time you've gone out, queued, and are standing there with your ballot, you might as well vote!

Here (Rep. Ireland) there is a little box on the back of the ballot that you can tick which signifies that you 'spoil' your vote - you don't want any of these candidates to represent you.
If you draw pictures on the ballot, or write on it, it will be put into the 'invalid vote' pile and tallied.
Spoiled votes go into a seperate pile and get tallied also. It causes the Parties to take notice if a lot of spoiled botes come back from a region/area.


Are there penalties for not voting?

 

[Paidiske]

Are there penalties for not voting?

There's a fine; a modest amount (like, I think $20). But I think it's more of a token gesture than a serious thing; most people just vote because it's what we do here; it's part of your responsibility as a citizen.

 

[WarriorAngel]

Abortion is no longer federally acceptable, so states have to vote in pro life.

Could the Vatican City ban products and services from an abortion-providing countries?
Yes.

Will they?
Well, countries are losing faith-filled Catholics, and Vatican City is for all of Italy to join the boycott.

1. Non Expedit (Latin for "It is not expedient") were the words with which the Holy See enjoined upon [Roman Rite] Italian Catholics the policy of boycott from the polls in...

Republicans are dropping the ball because the constituents.
Unfortunately the third parties have equally wonky ideas.

That said; I am grateful the Supreme Court got rid of Roe v. Wade
One step forward.

There is a lack of empathy among voters. The worst are the liberals who are very much about so-called women's rights and the baby is not a consideration.
Brain washed for 70 years.

 

[chevyontheriver]

One could write in Jesus Christ or Bugs Bunny on the ballot.

Those votes are spoiled and not even recorded.

 

[AlexB23]

Those votes are spoiled and not even recorded.

Yeah, that is true. 3rd party is better than Bugs.

 

[AlexB23]

Getting them on the ballot is the hard thing right now. In 2016 I worked to get Evan McMullen on the ballot in Minnesota. It was long hours of getting petitions signed but we did it. And he got a couple percent of the vote from people who were unimpressed with Hillary and The Donald. Things have matured a bit since then. By the way McMullen had the slimmest of chances to win if only he could win Utah (he was Mormon) and then the other two didn't get the 270 electoral votes. This would throw it to the states, which could pick from the three electoral vote getters. But alas he did not win Utah and Trump had more than 270 electoral votes.

Back to before I distracted myself. The need right now is local grass-roots. The two big parties have done their part in giving us a senile guy and a convicted felon. Both are eminently dumpable. It's just ASP name recognition is less than 1%. Who has even heard of Peter Sonski?

I have never heard of these guys. Someone needs to crowdfund ads for these ASP party folks. But yes, both senile old guy and felon with a private jet should be dumped.

 

[boughtwithaprice]

The American system has become a total mess. I vote republican only because I believe democrats will push us to full on communism, and we become the USSA. There is an excellent book called The Devil and Karl Marx if anyone is interested in reading.

I have problems with the anti-abortion position not because I am pro-abortion, no far from it, but it is a fight that has been going on for 50 years and we have been played by both parties.
The Catholic fight should be for biblical marriage and godly use of the marital act.

I this political climate, I would much rather see abortion and contraception declared the religious rituals that they are. The constitution has a first amendment that states Congress shall make no law regarding an establishment of religion.

If abortion and contraception are defined as religious rituals, then the government cannot establish a religion by calling them healthcare, which they are not. Abortion and contraception do nothing to enhance the health of women, men, or children. People only believe that they do, which makes them religious.

If declared as religious rituals, they could be removed from all the hospitals that receive federal funding, or even state Medicaid. They are not healthcare.

Want an abortion or contraception? Go ahead, the constitution guarantees the freedom of religion, but you are going to have to go to the church of Satan where it belongs, not a secular hospital. Pay for it yourself. Don’t enslave others to enhance your sin.

In philosophy, if terms are defined, we have a clearer path toward truth. In religion, we need to stand for truth, and not be caught in false arguments that serve only as distractions.

Jesus would probably say in this modern political climate, let the dead bury their dead, follow thou Me.

I am not pro-abortion or pro-choice. Abortion is evil, but contraception is more so, because contraception requires abortion, as any baby conceived in contraception is by definition unwanted by either or both participants of the marital act (sex).

When pro-creation was separated from the marital act by contraception in the modern world, we have all of the sins of the flesh that we see today.

As Catholics, we need to stand up for righteousness and not be swayed by the prevailing political trends of the day. I don’t think the Pope would prevent us from voting, or should we listen to him if he did, but I do think we are called to a higher purpose than politics. The Bishops tried to get us to vote for DACA and tolerate illegal immigrants, but most sane citizens know that is national suicide. We need not listen to the Bishops in matters of politics, politics only faith and morals, but we do have a duty to rightly form our conscience according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church in humble obedience.

For now I vote republican, but I know they are no perfect. The democrats are just worse. What? Do I want sterile sex, confused gender, and no babies? Do I want to be judged by the color of my skin (white) or my sex (male)? No to the democrats and left wing politics then. As of now, I have no choice but to vote Republican.

I don’t have the power to make my thoughts reality but what I can do, I do. I don’t believe in contraception so I quit my job that required me to participate in sterilization. I got fired from another one because I would not participate in tubal ligations, and it was sad because it was a half Catholic hospital, run by sisters of mercy but does sterilizations in the Protestant half. Oh well, now I work in a full Catholic Hospital at a reduced rate, but it’s worth it.

My thoughts are all over in this post, sorry about that. To summarize, stand up for the truth of the Gospel, even at a cost to yourself. The Pope won’t tell you how to vote, but a properly formed conscience will. Study the Catechism, and If you have a doubtful conscience, as I once did, pray harder. God reveals the truth to all who ask and diligently seek Him. He promises seek and you shall find, ask and you will receive, knock and it shall be opened to you


Peace be with you all

 

[boughtwithaprice]

As far as the ASP, be careful what you wish for. Multiple parties could throw us in like Europe, and the left wing will rule tyrannically like Trudeau in Canada and Macron in France. In England they just elected a left wing party supposedly to oust the old guard conservatives, much like what we call RINOs in the US. We will see how that goes

For years and agonizing years we wanted Roe v Wade overturned. Now it is overturned and we appear to be worse off than when it was in force.
I don’t want it back, but just look where we are. We need a better battle plan

 

[chevyontheriver]

As far as the ASP, be careful what you wish for. Multiple parties could throw us in like Europe, and the left wing will rule tyrannically like Trudeau in Canada and Macron in France. In England they just elected a left wing party supposedly to oust the old guard conservatives, much like what we call RINOs in the US. We will see how that goes

For years and agonizing years we wanted Roe v Wade overturned. Now it is overturned and we appear to be worse off than when it was in force.
I don’t want it back, but just look where we are. We need a better battle plan

What IS your actual battle plan. You either have one or will have one by Election Day.

 

[chevyontheriver]

I have never heard of these guys. Someone needs to crowdfund ads for these ASP party folks.

Bet you have heard of George Soros, who bought the 2020 election.

 

[LizaMarie]

I know that the 2020s decade is the time for the ASP to launch. We need to tell as many people about the American Solidarity party between now and November. We got to have this 3rd party as soon as possible

 

[LizaMarie]

I'm not Catholic but I'm posting in fellowship(I'm a confessional Lutheran)
I have been researching the ASP, I've always liked their stance on many things, but I used to be critical of voting third party-up until now.
Now I may eat my words and vote third party myself! The reason I was critical because I always felt that as a pro-life person, we always had to
vote to stop the more evil progressive pro-death party even if ours(Republicans) wasn't perfect.
I've been a registered Republican since 1980 and have voted that way in every Presidential election.
But the Republican party of today is not the party I registered in anymore, it's changed to something I don't recognize. Some like many of my friends and family, welcome those changes. I don't know how to explain it, but I don't like so many things I've seen creeping into the party. (Zenophobia?)
My devout evangelical Grandparents(both died in 1990) were Democrats, they continued to vote Democrat up until they passed away(They hated Reagan, lol, I kept my mouth shut that I voted for him.)
But in their day you could be pro-life and pro traditional marriage and still support the Democrats.
For example reading the ASP's platform I appreciate their stance on social justice and universal heathcare, something the Republican party has
always lacked. Yes, we need to secure our borders, of course, but I hate the way immigrants are being demonized and cast as almost non-human in the current rhetoric. The ASP presents the truly Christian and Biblical way of dealing with the issue.
So, I may be doing this year what I used to criticize people for doing, and vote my conscience, and vote for Peter Sonski.

 

[boughtwithaprice]

What IS your actual battle plan. You either have one or will have one by Election Day.

For lack of a better choice, we have to stick with Trump for now or else risk Democrat rule, which is what happened with Ross Perot.
We got Bill Clinton for eight years and he never got more than 40 some percent of the vote. Trump is not ideal personally, but his wife is Catholic, and he is not tied to the left wing ideology that grieves Our Lord. No way could I see God saying that He likes baby slaughter, youth sterilization due to twisted gender affirmation, and blurring the lines between homosexuality and family by mainstreaming contraception that removes the intended purpose of the marital act. Seamless garment? Yeah right, more like seamless slide into hell
Trump appears shaken by the politics of abortion, but he may be open to having contraception and abortion declared religious rather than women’s healthcare. That would remove the infernal procedures out of the hospitals and clinics and into religious institutions . Thereby isolating the enemy, Satan, and exposing his plan for the destruction of all human souls rather than people being duped into thinking it’s just healthcare

There is no health benefit to contraception or abortion despite what the mainstream media tells us. There is definite destructive health side effects to “gender affirming” drugs. There needs to be more studies to show that increased breast cancer is due to abortion and the pill, but federal
Government won’t fund those studies

Regardless of what happens in politics, Catholic men and women need to stand up and declare truth. You believe what the Church teaches or you don’t. The doctrine is clear. Contraception is a mortal sin. Refusing your husband or wife a reasonable request for the marital act is mortal sin. Believe it or don’t, but if you don’t, I don’t care what your politics is or who wins US president, because you are still on a path to hell regardless of who is driving the bus (not you personally, but you referring to the reader in general)

Start with our own house first. Stop making marriage cheap by trying to imitate the world. If natural family planning is used as contraception, it’s still mortal sin. We need more catechesis on marriage than we need training in NFP. I hear of too many couples saying, we don’t want kids right away. Then why are you marrying in the Catholic Church? Seriously The sacrament is only consummated and non annulable when the marital act is performed without contraceptive intent. The two become one flesh

Teach couples to get rid of the American lie of the nuclear family and go back to traditional families. Not every child needs a college education. The student loan crisis confirms that.
Teach children and couples to work for the family and not for themselves. Stop all this waiting to get married until way in 20s or 30s.

The Catholic Church teaches that if properly catechized in marriage and sacrificial love, a girl may marry at 14 and a boy at 16. The key is properly catechized, as most Americans are not mature enough to marry even in their thirties, but whose fault is that? Economics are hard, but if my daughter were catechized, I could sponsor her marriage and family until her man is mature enough to take care of his own family. It’s all about cooperation in the communion of saints. We deny ourselves and follow the commands of Christ not just dream and talk about them


Yeah my post reads like a wish list but we have to start somewhere. Do you have any ideas?

Peace be with you

 

[AlexB23]

Bet you have heard of George Soros, who bought the 2020 election.

I have heard of him, but mainly have heard of the Russian collusion, where Russia influenced the 2016 election. In other words, foreign entities mess with the election, and both sides want to impact the elections.

 

[chevyontheriver]

I have heard of him, but mainly have heard of the Russian collusion, where Russia influenced the 2016 election. In other words, foreign entities mess with the election, and both sides want to impact the elections.

Everybody tries to influence elections. Some of them have LOTS of money. Some try innovative approaches. Some try illegal approaches. Some run big media companies and censor information and call it fake news or Russian collusion when it later gets discovered not to be. You and I are bit players in it all. The big boys buy the elections based on the ads they buy, the things they censor, and the lies they tell. We are the consumers of the propaganda, and suitably propagandized then we vote the way they want us to. That's democracy in the 21st century.

Truth is they're both nekkid.

The Trump/Biden debate was a rare moment when we could actually see that the emperor had no clothes. But with enough damage control we will again think he has some mighty fine threads.

 

[AlexB23]

Everybody tries to influence elections. Some of them have LOTS of money. Some try innovative approaches. Some try illegal approaches. Some run big media companies and censor information and call it fake news or Russian collusion when it later gets discovered not to be. You and I are bit players in it all. The big boys buy the elections based on the ads they buy, the things they censor, and the lies they tell. We are the consumers of the propaganda, and suitably propagandized then we vote the way they want us to. That's democracy in the 21st century.

Truth is they're both nekkid.

The Trump/Biden debate was a rare moment when we could actually see that the emperor had no clothes. But with enough damage control we will again think he has some mighty fine threads.

Agreed. I made a post about interference, and the three biggest factors were Russians, Democrats and the far-right.


From my reply to Vambram's post: Is the Biden administration interfering with the election?

1. Foreign Interference
*FBI Report on Russians: RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN 2016 U.S. ELECTIONS | Federal Bureau of Investigation
Bipartisan report on Russians: Press | Intelligence Committee

2. Far-right interference
Arizona Election Interference: Arizona indicts 18 in election interference case, including Giuliani and Meadows

3. Democrat Interference
Student Loan Forgiveness: Biden's student loan forgiveness rejected: 'Not buying my vote'
This PBS article discusses the issues with immigrants voting: How often do non-US citizens vote in Wisconsin elections?