Yes.  If I didn&#x27;t vote, what incentive whatsoever would my representatives have to act in my interest?  I may not have a statistically significant impact on the outcome, but neither do any of the other tens of millions of people who vote.  Even if an individual vote isn&#x27;t statistically significant, the aggregate of them is, and because non-voters are self-selecting we can&#x27;t count on those who vote enthusiastically to be a representative sample of the opinions of the populace.  Each person who makes the decision that their vote doesn&#x27;t matter helps our country slide away from government by the people and towards government by corporations.<p>Living in a part of the US that skews VERY heavily towards one party, I especially vote in primary elections, which are where it&#x27;s actually determined which congresscritter or senator we&#x27;ll be sending to Washington or the state capital. And yes, I will absolutely vote my heart rather than strategically in a primary.  &quot;Electable&quot; too often isn&#x27;t.<p>And I make sure to vote in off-year state and local elections too because those actually have more impact on my daily quality of life in the short-term than national ones do. (Whereas national elections have more impact on the long-term direction of the country, especially when there are Supreme Court vacancies likely).<p>My state allows a candidate to run for office on multiple parties&#x27; slates, and will aggregate those votes for the candidate.  I dislike one party much more than the other, but there are third-parties far closer to my actual positions.  I&#x27;ll often vote for a major-party candidate on a third-party slate, which both helps ensure that the third party remains on the ballot for the next election cycle and hopefully helps send a message to the major party in question.<p>(Edited for typos.)