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The 2024 US presidential election had been widely characterized as one of the most consequential political contests in recent US history. Although turnout was high for a presidential election – almost matching the levels of 2020 – it is estimated that close to 90 million Americans, roughly 36% of the eligible voting age population, did not vote. This number is greater than the number of people who voted for either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris.

More than a month on from polling day, eligible US voters from across the country as well as other parts of the world got in touch with the Guardian to share why they did not vote.

Scores of people said they had not turned out as they felt their vote would not matter because of the electoral college system, since they lived in a safely blue or red state. This included a number of people who nonetheless had voted in the 2020 and 2016 elections.

While various previous Democratic voters said they had abstained this time due to the Harris campaign’s stance on Israel or for other policy reasons, a number of people in this camp said they would have voted for the vice-president had they lived in a swing state.

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[-] mlg@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago

Lol this was a 1:1 repeat of 2016.

I voted and sat back as the Dems threw away their election by willingly ignoring their constituents in exchange for AIPAC money.

[-] Fedizen@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

the only conclusion is this is the model for both parties into the foreseeable future.

[-] magnetosphere@fedia.io 7 points 4 weeks ago

“The Dems are out of touch on social issues, and have tacked too far to the left to appease a minority of progressives.”

Asshole.

[-] makyo@lemmy.world 5 points 4 weeks ago

And ignorant - they fell for the conservative talking points too

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

For those who aren't aware already, "a minority of progressives" means "queer people," specifically trans people.

This asshole is saying the Dems went too far in trying to make things more equal.

[-] jewbacca117@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

And us progressives feel ignored by the Dems. Wild

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[-] bigpapasmurf12@lemm.ee 6 points 3 weeks ago

I despise humanity's current timeline. Can it fuck off, please!?

[-] 1985MustangCobra@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 weeks ago

So wait, if your state wins, the excess votes don't matter towards the presidential candidate?

[-] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 8 points 3 weeks ago

Nope, they just go to the popular vote as bragging rights. It's a stupid system.

[-] 1985MustangCobra@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

i guess it's similar to our system here in canada, however many ridings the party has dictates their position in the house. its really dumb because some reps might be great people, but the leader is a total dingus. I don't know what party i am voting for because i have lost faith in all the parties in my county.

[-] irotsoma@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago

The idea that your vote doesn't count in a strongly red or blue state is total propaganda to get people to not vote and make it so that they don't have to spend money on campaigning in those places. There are way more people who don't vote than there are people who voted for either candidate in most places. If everyone voted it could easily overcome any perceived majorities. Especially if city people voted. Problem is that there isnt enough capacity to vote. And cuts to funding that capacity in red states have been a big way to discourage voting in cities. Most people can't afford to take an entire day off of work to wait in the lines and employers wouldn't allow it. They're only required to give 1 hour which is barely enough to get to a poling place and back with no lines. And that isn't enforced so many don't even give that hour. And mail in and early voting has been framed by Republicans as unreliable with fake movies and such as propaganda even though it works great in many Blue states.

[-] muntedcrocodile@lemm.ee 5 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

U guys need mandatory voting like what we got here in aus. And by mandatory it doesnt mean u have to pick someone (its ur right to spoil ur ballot) it simply means u have to attend a polling booth.

Voting is a duty not a right

[-] fluxion@lemmy.world 3 points 4 weeks ago

We need laws that make it illegal to spread election misinformation. We can't function as a society with this level of manipulation and outright falsities. Nobody knows what is up or down anymore and this is just the start of what AI and propaganda news media are gonna make possible in the very near future.

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[-] Etterra@discuss.online 4 points 3 weeks ago

I live in a blue state but that doesn't mean I'd be justified in believing that I should sit it out. Even if that insane logic about not needing to was valid, there's other shit on the ballot. And even if my vote for or abstaining against an uncontested incumbent is irrelevant, there's still ballot measures that need to be understood.

[-] LovingHippieCat@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

One guy said this “VP Harris failed to demonstrate she was ethically or intellectually capable of executing the office, repeatedly failing to detail out her policies..." It's infuriating that people continue to believe Harris never detailed her policies despite the fact that all she talked about was policy. All they had to do was pay attention to her and she would talk about her policies, it seems like they just didn't want to even pay attention to her. Or that because she didn't detail alllll of her policies then that wasn't enough. Add on that this person calls her intellectually incapable of talking about her policies, basically calling her stupid and it's just exhausting.

This whole article continues to make me believe in the fundamental problem with Democrat voters which so many people have shown. The democrats have to run the perfect candidate with the perfect policies or the charisma of Obama who promise the world, while the Republicans can run a guy who says immigrants are eating cats and dogs and because the Democratic candidate wasn't perfect, the Republicans win.

And then when the Democrats do promise signficant change and it doesn't immediately happen, Democrat voters punish them for it, they lose the midterms, and any change that was in the process of happening gets stopped dead. But when Republicans promise the world and don't deliver, Republican voters reward them for simply promising it.

"Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line."

[-] SmilingSolaris@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

Institutional vs anti institutional. Dems are institutional and the institution sucks. Trump is a sledgehammer. He promised alot of sledgehammering. Not good, but that's irrelevant. The Dems need to stop protecting the broken system of neo liberal economics that fucking Regan invented and chasing the phantom center right vote.

Aka. swing left or die.

[-] MNByChoice@midwest.social 3 points 3 weeks ago

In the USA, How you vote is private. If you voted is public.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

I didn’t find Harris compelling, just more of the same.

Well you're sure not going to get more of the same now. Good job, shithead.

[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 weeks ago

the problem is, we still gotta beat Trump.

I dont think anyone knows if actual leftist messages will actually work, but holy shit it's gotta be better than diet, no caffeine, low sodium fun size Bill Clinton Zero.

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[-] ptz@dubvee.org 2 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

"What a circus" say eligible voters who didn't vote in the 2024 election:

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[-] DigitalNirvana@lemm.ee 2 points 4 weeks ago

The large number of eligible non-voters is primarily a result of those individual’s responses to propaganda. This did not happen by accident. I don’t blame the person that got conned, I blame those running the con job.

[-] john89@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 weeks ago

What propaganda? Running a shitty candidate that doesn't represent the interests of working people is not propaganda.

If anything, this derision towards those who refuse to "fall in line" reads like propaganda. It makes sense that people like you would peddle it without even knowing.

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[-] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Did they interview anyone in a swing state at all, or just people who lived in solid states and suggested that if they lived in a swing state they’d have voted?

The only reasons they gave were Israel and gesture vaguely in the direction of other policies.

Did these non-voters not consider the downballot candidates that dems also lost their asses on?

[-] Pandantic@midwest.social 2 points 3 weeks ago

What if we make not voting an official vote and, if it wins, all the parties have to try again with new candidates?

[-] Jumpingspiderman@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Well, they may have actual made it so about what they fear about their vote “not counting” by putting the fascists in power

[-] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 1 points 4 weeks ago

"It doesn't matter" (and they're right) is always going to be the number one answer. Very few states actually have meaningful voting rights with respect to the presidential election. Lower races are sometimes more meaningful, but even then they're frequently forgone conclusions. The only votes I had that weren't a forgone conclusion was some municipal ballot measures.

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this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2024
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