I understand, I was just clarifying that people have different perceptions of what 'voting' means due to associated connotation (in case anyone's missed it)
Its become a bit of a buzz word, and it seems that people like to argue about it instead of constructively explaining their positions with evidences. Which is unfortunate. We all would like to be educated and corrected if we are in error.
Anyway,
Ultimately there are bigger issues to worry about in the Ummah right now anyway, and we should consult a scholar on these matters of Fiqh.
Also... I totally apologized if I sounded like I was a snapping turtle @_@
For clarifications,
Voting that is being seen in current "democratic" practices (though democracy is not really implemented.... anyhow) is not the only kind of voting.
People "vote" to come and reach a consensus, for example polls in order to see what the majority of people are thinking about in the population, classify as actual votes, "voting" to reach a consensus, it is just seeing and understanding what the general majority has to say about something and it differs from place to place. For example, in Canada we vote based on what the smaller candidates are near our electoral district, our voting AFFECTS us indirectly AND directly, because even if we do not vote, we are indirectly complicit in having allowed the larger candidate to bring it a bigger pool of voters.
So, abstaining from voting is actually voting as well.
Let's say...
Candidate 1 wants to legalize marijuana
Candidate 2 wants to legalize homosexual marriage
Candidate 3 wants to increase military budgets
You don't vote at all.
Candidate 1 received 20 votes
Candidate 2 received 25 votes
Candidate 3 received 30 votes
15 people decided not to vote....
Candidate 3 received the most vote and as such will implement increases in military budgets.... which end up directly affecting people in MUSLIM countries (this is how it's been playing out....)
You and the 14 people could have voted... and chosen a lesser alternative
For example if you and 14 people,
Candidate 1 received 35 votes
Candidate 2 received 25
Candidate 3 received 30....
Legalization of marijuana, (now let's be pragmatic) what does the legalization of Marijuana do? It's not just about "smoking" weed.... let's refrain from just think about this, it is about other products that have nothing to do with "smoking it", which become legalized as well. For example.. hemp paper, less destructive in terms of its production, better suited for actual disintegrating into the earth once it's been thrown in the garbage and SUSTAINABLE. What other things? Oh, the decrease in crime rates, smuggling and the "drug" war, that has been a giant producer in profiling and racializing people who are suspected of harboring drugs... I might go on a tangent here, but I hope that the point is being made.
Should the Muslim community choose not to vote, because it's "haram", does it not also make sense that any individuals who refrained from voting also refrain from getting benefits that come from a government that is Kufr as well? Simply because voting is "haram?" Also, just because you choose not to vote, does not mean that the choice you made (i.e not voting) will not have an impact on the outcomes of that voting in the first place. Sure, I might not vote, but if I didn't vote and someone gets elected that is HORRIBLE, it is on me, for having allowed that possibility to begin with, therefore in abstaining from voting, I made it possible for an individual to get into power.