the power to abstain

so, wednesday at senate we had a 2 1/2 hour long meeting. some parts were about this, some about that, but the bulk of the meeting was to discuss the power to abstain. as it stands, for a candidate to win in a runoff election, they must hold majority plus 1 of the vote. if they dont get that, then the election is sent to student senate, where each senator is to vote according to the plurality of his or her constituency.

the amendment debated yesterday stated that, in the runoff, there would still be the abstain vote, but that the vote would only count those the ballots cast for the candidate, and the candidate with the plurality of the votes would win. only in the case of an absolute tie would it go to the senate.

i find that keeping the abstain vote takes away the validity of the abstain vote, and gives voters a false sense of voice. what is the use of having it there if it doesn't make a difference? seriously, people might as well not take the effort to vote. and it would look very bad for the candidate if abstain won the plurality, hell even the majority, and the candidate still gets to be appointed to office. if 'abstain' is on the ballot, there should be a meaningful reason behind it, and not just the symbolism. if people don't want to vote for either candidate and want to abstain, then there should be merit behind abstaining. if it is not going to change the election, then it's useless. and if it is not useful, why have it? maybe thats just me.
and evidently i am in the minority, because the amendment almost passed. it received 2/3, but not 3/4 to pass in an election season. you can bet your ass that im going to keep contesting this until the end, because it should mean nothing or not be there at all. and im sticking to it.

other than that, i think that im trying to force things too much. i just need to let things happen on their own. except for school work. that does need to be forced, doesnt it? oh well. today is to be a day of alot of community service and alot of school work. and the fact that i can stay up until 6 am because i dont have class tomorrow is nice, too.