In The Ethics of Voting, Georgetown philosopher Jason F. Brennan argues that “citizens generally have no standing obligation to vote. They can abstain if they prefer.” He then goes on to say that, if one does decides to vote, they will have stricter responsibility to weigh the situation. He suggests we should vote well or abstain.
He then goes on to explain how voting can have “counterintuitive implications”. He argues that those who refuse to vote for even frivolous reasons can in many cases do less damage than those politically active citizens who vote for “what they believe will promote the common good” and yet are “nonetheless often ignorant of or misinformed about the relevant facts or, worse, are simply irrational”. And hence, such good intentions can lead to worse governance.