[semaj]

"As police training tells you, in a fight, you never throw away a weapon or a shield."

I disagree. If your weapon has been broken, then it becomes a hindrance and a distraction.

[SamuraiScot]

If your weapon has been broken, then it becomes . . .

. . . a club.

That was the instructor's point. Sure, an election can be a distraction if, say, you don't use it as an opportunity to organize for events well beyond election day—often in a way not directly related to the process of casting votes.

An election is always a weapon, because it's a period when people are more open to fundamental ideas, donating their time, and throwing money around. But what sort of weapon it is can be shaped in an infinite number of ways.