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A mini-controversy is already surrounding Republican candidate for California Governor Meg Whitman. The former eBay CEO's first record of voter registration was found in 2002, when she was 46 years old. Whitman has admitted and apologized for the bad example that is her non-voting record, but says she had voted in some elections prior to 2002. However, a Sacramento Bee search of public records could not confirm that.
KCET blogger Brian Doherty takes note of Whitman's non-voting story, additionally linking to his own libertarian-themed post on the subject over at Reason Magazine. "Defending non-voting in bars across this great land, I often hear the ultimate 'shut up'—that if you don't vote, you have no right to complain about politics or society," he wrote back in 2004. "The reality is the exact opposite: By voting, you are playing a game whose rules are that the majority vote winner gets to control the reins of government, in all its unspeakable power. If you complain about the results of the game you chose to play, you're just being a sore loser—or winner."
Another Republican candidate, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, sees the act of not voting differently and is asking Whitman to drop out of the race. "There's never been a person elected governor anywhere in this country with a voting record like hers," Poizner told the LA Times. "I mean 28 years of not voting at all, not even being registered to vote -- meaning she had no intention of even voting -- is something that will make her really not qualified."
