Vote!

There are those who say that voting is a hollow exercise because one vote is but a drop in the ocean, and unlikely to make a difference. Bostonist doesn't think this is a good attitude in general (what's the alternative? Using money to control large blocks of votes, giving undue influence to those with greater resources? That would be terribly un-American), but in today's preliminary election in Boston, it's not even true! Since this election winnows the field of candidates for the four at-large city council seats from 15 to eight, it lacks decisiveness and charm, and turnout is expected to be very low. That means that every vote really does count. What's more, Boston voters have the option of casting up to four votes, which is cool in a weird, European sort of way. They can choose their top four favorites or throw all their votes to one candidate to increase her likelihood of victory. Or, they could give three votes to one candidate and one to another, or two to one and two to another, or two to one and one each to two others. By Bostonist's (probably wrong) math, there are 1,905 possible vote combinations, which is pretty awesome, as far as voting goes. (See more explanations here and here.) Voters can also say "hi" to the many election monitors who will be on hand (as a result of the city's settlement with the feds to avoid a lawsuit for violations of the Voting Rights Act) and puzzle over election notices in seven languages. So basically, voting should be a ton of fun today, or at least not totally perfunctory and useless, and Bostonist strongly urges you to get out there and do it. (Somervillionaires, Medfordists, Winchesterians, and a few Woburnites go to the polls today too, to choose a replacement for deceased state senator Charlie Shannon.)