My mom never registered to vote "because I don't want to be picked for jury duty!" (stupid boomer face)
WTF?! In some states, your registered for jury duty when you get a driver's license...
That's what I told her!
Wow so she was a bad citizen in two ways.
In some Canadian municipal elections, you can vote for school board trustees.
Before I had kids, I was too lazy to educate myself on their platforms, so I wouldn't cast a ballot. I'd rather leave it up to people who care to make the decision.
Now that I have kids and school boards have turned into a culture war battleground, I am researching and voting.
I suspect that almost everyone will fall into one of those two categories
1/3 of the possible voting populace doesn't vote because they are told it won't make a difference, when the last presidential election came down to a few thousand votes. Bugs the hell out of me.
Even if you’re in a non “swing” state, the totals shifting in some new direction will influence it becoming a non swing state over time. It still matters. Both ways.
This was the way the crazy people got abortion banned: They picked something that was crazy out of reach, and kept working for it until it was in reach. Instead of just saying “oh well who cares, it is difficult, I will wait until someone else makes it easy.”
Exactly, the reason it happened is because we became complacent to the point where the only way to win votes for them was to win the craziest sector, they knew everyone else would just keep voting (or not voting). They campaigned constantly because people would froth at the mouth over it and they knew they were single issue voters.
If the 1/3 of the people who don't vote showed up in this election it could actually make a huge difference, hell it could show that the parties need to rethink their entire strategies. They still won't though, but they should.
I think there's a third category, though may be a small offset of the first. Those who would like to, but don't have the day off and can't afford it.
I didn't vote for years because I was busy trying to keep my head above water and I just couldn't wrap my head around politics. I had my own shit to deal with during that time.
Please consider voting. Don't ignore your political voice.
I moved from the UK in my early 20s, prior to that I was young and stupid, so I neglected to vote there. Then I moved to America and started the green card process, and didn't feel it was right to vote for things back in the UK as it wasn't my home anymore and it wasn't my place to say what should happen there. I finally naturalized around a decade after I moved here, and immediately signed up to vote. I actually cried at the polling station because I was so happy to vote for the first time ever!
I vote for Federal and Provincial. For local, I never seem to find out there even is an election until after it has passed
Still really irritating
And even if you do know about the election, finding useful information on the candidates is a feat
Who are you supposed to vote for when you feel it doesn't matter? Or when you feel that all candidates are insufficient?
Additionally, if we're speaking of the US, the electoral college can and will supercede the popular vote. We literally put these people in power just to say we're wrong and they will quickly say we're wrong and work against the popular votes because we gave them the authority
Ah yes the classic, “i cant decide between voting for fascism or against it. Really tough choice”
OP wants to know why people don’t vote. If you believe in voting you’re probably not going to like any of the answers but they shouldn’t be downvoted for answering the question as asked.
Hey. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf on social media. In situations like this, I will be absolutely serious, direct, and respectful. Regardless of if you disagree with my view, I politely ask the same thing. We need to talk to each other with respect regardless of our views. Agreed?
Ok I will rephrase to be polite and respectful.
When you are presented with the option of voting for or against fascism, what makes that choice difficult?
I'll continue to say this question still isn't being asked in good faith.
Of course the ballot isn't literally, "do u want fascism or nah"
It's between two politicians. You and I are agree that one side is almost inherently better than the other, but you have to remember that a. the other side also believes that they are inherently better than the other, and b. not everyone believes that either side is inherently better than the other.
Judging by your comments I'm assuming you're pro-choice; if someone asked you, "when presented with the choice of outlawing the murder babies, what makes that choice difficult for you?", you'd rightfully say they aren't posing the question in a fair way to you. It's the same thing here, if you're trying to communicate with someone who doesn't outright agree with you you can't just outright attack their position or frame it in a negative light or you just make them defensive and not receptive to an alternative view.
Of course the ballot isn't literally, "do u want fascism or nah"
This specific election is literally just this
The electoral college only applies to Presidential elections, but there are many more elections happening for primaries, local, and state elections, where the electoral college doesn't apply. Your vote in these elections is arguably more important than the presidential election and there have been many cases of elections coming down to under a hundred votes.
As for candidates who are insufficient, your vote is not an endorsement of the policies of the candidate, and is an objection to other candidates. This is the flaw of our two party system, and the only optimal strategy is to vote against who you don't want to be president. Voting for representatives who advocate for ranked voting is how this can be fixed, but requires voting in non-presidential elections to create the change, along with a whole set of other challenges.
I usually don't think to. I mostly just scroll All sorted by active so there's lots of people already voting on those posts. Plus my instance is upvote-only
Unfettered capitalism has masterfully created a self-serve corporatocracy that filters money straight to the political parties who, in turn, pose puppet leaders in front of the masses to grant a semblance of choice. No good will come of this "Weekend at Bernie's" farce of an election. Under current auspices, only more greed, lies, and violence are to follow.
Sorry, disenfranchisement and apoplexy are all that remain.
You’ve given into despair and have opted out entirely, which is exactly what the people you gripe about want you to do. Congratulations, you’ve surrendered.
You may well be correct on all counts.
A question was asked, and I answered honestly from my perspective.
I encourage you to reconsider and vote for whatever you perceive to be the least of all evils. Voting is relatively easy and doesn’t require much effort. It’s literally the least you can do. Yes, may not matter in the end, but it can still inform certain statistics that can be used to support various messages and arguments down the line. If you don’t vote at all, you guarantee you have no impact. Don’t throw away the little power you have.
No good will come of this “Weekend at Bernie’s” farce of an election.
Hard disagree.
Anybody who has actually followed what Trump has done / is doing vs what Biden has done / is doing knows there's a clear distinction between the two. One is clearly a worse choice. It reads like you're just intoxicated by the smelling of your own farts.
I assume a good chunk of people who don't vote live in non-contested counties/states and feel that it's pointless to vote.
I'm not allowed because I'm an immigrant, and I've only found out recently that I can vote while living abroad in national elections in the fatherland.
Depends on what is getting voted on. Posts on Lemmy? Eh... Maybe if I find them especially good or bad. Can't be bothered otherwise.
In that one instance where I didn't vote... It was a local election with exactly two candidates. One of which told ahead of election day that should he win he would refuse to take office. So yeah... Didn't bother with that.
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