In a healthy democracy, the second part of voting would come into play: You contact your local representative, and tell them what you want them to do. If enough of a representatives constituents directly voice their disapproval, the representative is forced to act, or else lose those voters. Its essentially lobbying, but leveraging your vote directly.

The caveats of course are that it doesnt work well for minorities, and you need a healthy functioning democracy, so, your mileage may vary :(