Is it okay to not vote in this election?

A friend of mine has on his desk at work two paper cups. One has a skull and crossbones, the other a question mark. When I asked him what they meant, he said “if you were given poison and needed to take a drink, which one would you choose?” “That” he says, “is how I see this presidential race”.

He sees Hillary as the cup with the skull and crossbones since we know what she's been like since she's been in politics. Then you have Donald Trump, the unknown who has never been in politics.

What if there were another choice? There is, you know. It's the choice of not voting at all. Now I know this goes completely against the grain since we've been brought up to never miss a vote. In fact, in some New Jersey towns, you're encouraged to vote early and often. I kid.

But this presidential election goes completely against the grain. I don't think we've ever had two more polarizing candidates in a country that probably hasn't been this divided since the sixties. The third candidate, Gary Johnson, can't get on the debate stage and I wonder what would happen if America saw a much younger man with gubernatorial experience standing next to these two who spend more time trying to turn the debate into a smack-down that telling you what they would do.

I always thought that if you don't vote, you can't complain about what you get. But so many people are not happy with our choices that you could make the argument that it's better in all good conscience not to vote than it is to just pull a lever for someone you're not really sold on. Then, not only can you not complain, you can't be blamed.

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