Despite the fact that I could have, I did not vote on Super Tuesday.

This is not an oversight; I’m registered and eligible to vote. Nor is it apathy or inability to get the time off from work. It’s quite deliberate. I didn’t vote because I didn’t have anyone to vote for.

For the 2004 Presidential Election, I wrote in “None of the Above.” I wasn’t satisfied with any of the four candidates that had made the ballot in North Carolina (where I lived at the time). It had also, by the time I voted, already become obvious that North Carolina’s Electoral votes were going to President Bush. I skewed no count with my protest vote, and I bear no illusions that anyone beyond a harried election worker saw my vote. My point was simply to protest: choosing the least of four evils is still choosing an evil.

I already know, barring major changes in the candidate lineup or an actual chance at a popular vote, that I’ll probably do something similar this year. So there was really no reason for me to vote on Super Tuesday. I had hoped it wouldn’t be this way, and there was a candidate that had caught my interest. Unfortunately, he has already withdrawn from the race.

Some will say I’m throwing away my chance to have my say. My response is identical to the one I had in 2004: choosing the least of multiple evils is still choosing an evil. It’s a fatalistic viewpoint that treats the status quo as not just normal, but acceptable. I’ve held that opinion in the past, and I’ve done the “least evil” vote. But after about 2003, I realized that I just couldn’t accept that anymore.

In fact, I haven’t voted in an election in Georgia at all. In 2006, my congressional representative was running unopposed and I didn’t know enough about the other races to be able to make an informed choice. I can now, and I do plan to vote in November. There are some elections where I do have a choice. The Presidential election just isn’t one of them.

I want a better choice of candidates.

It doesn’t really matter to me how that comes about, although I’ll parenthetically note that when I say “a better choice” I am indeed including third-party candidates. In the past five years I’ve developed quite the sense of disillusionment with our entire election process. It certainly isn’t democratic and it certainly doesn’t actually represent the choice of the people. Lately it has mostly just seemed to be a dog-and-pony show.

Make no mistake: I care very deeply about the way things are going in this country. I certainly do want (and intend) to become involved in the political process. But I doubt it’s going to be in the arena of partisan or electoral politics anymore. I want to help make meaningful change, not just be part of a system that grows more and more turgid with each passing year.

There are some who would say that if I don’t vote, I don’t have any right to complain about what happens. I’m going to do so anyway. If there were a candidate worth voting for, I’d be voting for that candidate. But the sad fact is, there isn’t.

I’m not going to be a hypocrite and pretend that there is.