Why should I vote?

...brought to you by One Vote Nigeria

Voting is voluntary, and the chance that the result will be determined by any single person's vote is extremely low, even the smallest cost for example, the time it takes to stroll down to the polling place, wait in line, and cast a ballot is sufficient to make voting seem irrational. Yet if I follow this line of reasoning, and do not vote, a minority of the population can determine a country's future, leaving a discontented majority.

If I don't want a small minority to determine our government, I will favour a high turnout. Yet since my own vote makes such a tiny contribution to the outcome, I still face the temptation to get a free ride, not bothering to vote while hoping that enough other people will vote to keep democracy robust and to elect a government that is responsive to the views of a majority of citizens.

But there are many possible reasons for voting. Maybe because I will enjoy it, and would have nothing better to do with the time saved if I did not. Others people might be motivated by a sense of civic duty that does not assess the rationality of voting in terms of the possible impact of one's own ballot.

Still others might vote not because they imagine that they will determine the outcome of the election, but because, like football fans, they want to cheer their team on. They may vote because if they don't, they will be in no position to complain if they don't like the government that is elected. Or they may calculate that while the chances of their determining the outcome are only one in several million, the result is of such importance that even that tiny chance is enough to outweigh the minor inconveniences of voting.

I will vote. Will YOU?