Submitted 3 months ago by Cairden@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
There is literally 0 chance the area I live in will be blue. Does me going out and voting actually do anything besides add to the popular vote tally?
voting red or blue will not change anything
until people realize there are third parties to vote for nothing will happen
Voting third party changes nothing except help the Democrat or Republican you most identify with to lose.
Voting in the US needs to change first. FPTP replaced with ranked-choice, or approval, at least; the electoral college abolished; NPVIC; proportional representation in Congress.
But the big, first monster is first-past-the-post. No third party has come close to winning the Presidency since Abraham Lincoln. Please, think about that for one second. We haven’t had a serious third party contender in one 164 years. And we won’t, until we get a different election system in place. Until then, third party candidates are spoilers.
Ah yes all votes for Nader. It did change things, but ask yourself how it changed things. The answer: changed things for the worse. Big time.
And all those protest no votes for Hilary. Again, how did that change things? Again, it changed things for the worse. Fucking tenfold worse.
It won't happen until a third party can offer a convincingly distinct platform. Right now, all our potential third party options are basically just piecemealed mix-n-matches between the two major parties.
Here in Australia, our voting system means you can’t waste a vote. If whoever I vote for doesn’t win, my vote gets shifted to the next on my list.
Every year I vote for the Animal Justice Party, Environment Australia, Progressive Unity etc. They never win, but my vote is still registered as having gone to them. Eventually my vote shifts along and either lands on the greens who win my electorate, or labour. But they’ll still see that the Animal Justice Party DID get a lot of votes, and maybe the Greens or Labour will focus more on animal based policy.
If 49% of your American electorate votes blue, maybe your right wing winner will try to appeal to that sizeable demographic by not being so horribly right wing.
As long as you have a valid ID and registered voter… yep <3
A vote for Biden is a vote against trump Where as a vote for no one is a vote that benefits trump because there’s no one voting against him
We need as many votes against the bad man as possible to help counter his lies about stolen elections. Yes, it matters that hard numbers can be referenced when backing up facts. I don’t like the guy I have to vote for but I’ll still vote for him even in my deeply blue state (Calif)
I’m also from Ohio. Your vote counts. Besides the tally, elections are about statistics. One of those statistics is trajectory. People who run campaigns take notice. One thing to understand about Ohio politics is that when voted on individually “blue” ideas pass. Abortion access, recreational marijuana, anti gerrymandering but candidates lose. This tells me it’s possible for Dems to win in Ohio, they just suck at getting their message across
Sorry I’m not well enough versed in American politics to know who’s blue or red.
Whether you should vote or not doesn’t depend on the people around you. It is your right to have your say. The result is the cumulative effect of everyone in your area doing the same. Whether you think you’re surrounded by millions of blues or millions of reds doesn’t make any difference. Your perception may be incorrect, and your analysis, that there is literally zero chance that your vote will matter, is incorrect.
Nobody knows the results of an election until the votes are in and have been counted. It doesn’t matter that your area has always been red, blue, green, turquoise, pink or whatever. Areas can change allegiance, and it is by individuals getting out and voting.
If you don’t vote, you strengthen the position of those who vote the other way. It is not considered a protest vote because the system would prefer to consider this as voter apathy. If you want to register a protest vote and “none of the above” isn’t an option, find the official way to spoil your ballot paper and do that, but whatever you do, get out and vote.
Vote for who you think is the best option. Ohio is a pretty safe Republican state for Trump. I will probably be voting for the Democrat, but you should read up on everyone who is on the ballot and make an informed decision.
Might nudge Ohio blue a little. Unlikely to change Ohio’s end result, since Vance is from Ohio, but better than not trying.
Find a little pride in doing your part to make the country better.
I’m in a similar situation and will vote more according to my actual politcal preferences than vote blue no matter who.
You should absolutely vote. It should be considered a responsibility by all citizens!
Other than helping you sleep at night, probably not. That’s enough reason to do it though.
Voting gives you the right to complain. If you don’t vote, you lose that right.
The two-party system is a fucking joke. Voting for Rethuglicans is fascist bootlicking. Voting for Democrats is just rainbow-colored fascism. Both sides just virtue signal to their base about identity politics, but change nothing fundamentally that will anger the true masters: the oligarchs who really run shit.
I bet you’re fun at parties.
empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
Yes. Voting is the only way your voice is heard. By not voting, the red majority grows and you effectively do not exist to the political system.
Voting is how you narrow the margins and increase the popular vote. Voting in your local elections is where you have a better say in how things that immediately affect you are run. Voting in local and state referendums is also powerful. It might feel hopeless but it is absolutely important that you vote in EVERY SINGLE ELECTION that you are eligible for.