Assuming there's nothing stopping you from legally voting
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.
Jury duty wasn't fun (child abuse case), but it was one hell of an education. I'm still greatful to have had such smart fellow jurors so we could really consider everything. You get to see how the world works.
don’t pick me for jury duty because always guilty 100% idgaf
I maliciously complied with Jury Duty. I went. I sat in the room 8 hours a day for a week reading a conspicuously large copy of "Atlas Shrugged".
Weird, they didn't pick me... :)
Laziness / lack of any urgency that it will matter or make a difference to them personally
They’re a disinformation campaign, and taking time telling you about refusing to vote is their attempt to influence the election
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.
"Making a difference" and "electing one of two unpopular candidates" don't necessarily go hand in hand.
If the two unpopular candidates were perfectly equal then your argument might have weight, but in my book there's one that's horrible, and one that's not great, but also not horrible.
Politics never has a good candidate, it's always between two bad choices. It's just choosing the best of the two.
Politics never has a good candidate, it's always between two bad choices.
Well now you're catching on to why so many people don't even bother. It's almost as if these two parties want it that way so they can maintain their control. Why do you think the Democrats keep picking candidates that either lose or struggle to win against someone like Trump?
I guess in my thinking, if the act of not voting means you are okay with letting the worst candidate win, then by not voting it means I'm okay with a lot of innocent people being hurt by the horrid policies of the worse candidate. By voting for the lesser of two evils, I'm more saying "I don't want that other candidate".
You're trying to say it's their plot to give you two candidates. What if their plot is instead to convince you not to vote, so their bad candidate gets in easier because you could have helped stop it?
What are you helping to stop when both candidates are terrible? You're helping in the same way that "thoughts and prayers" helps people. You're simply participating in a rigged game and thinking that your participation is some sort of moral choice and "doing the right thing" when in reality that feeling is just self-gratification.
If you think you're helping, why does the political landscape continue to devolve and slide further to the right regardless of who wins? Why are more and more people becoming poor and homeless while a handful of companies and individuals are reaping all the rewards? That's the trajectory you're arguing to help maintain here.
Personally the farther left we go, the louder the right gets. To me, I see a losing battle that they're desperately trying to win. They may win temporarily now and again, but overwhelmingly the younger generations are more liberal. It's why we see the desperate grab for power now, they know even with the tricks it's just a matter of time.
And for your first, I stand by what I said. Your assumption is that both candidates are equal, so what's the point. Except from my point of view, one is vastly better than the alternative, so there is a point.
“Unpopular” is a pretty carefully chosen criterion there
Damn straight which is why the Dems handed a win to Trump in 2016 and why polling shows that he's likely to win again this year. It takes careful choosing to pick someone that people dislike so much that he can't even win against a bloated orange fascist.
That's like eating shit and lightning yourself on fire instead of just eating shit.
When you compare our choices to eating shit or eating shit and lighting yourself on fire, is it really much of a question why people aren't volunteering to do either of those things?
One is going to be picked for you either way. Not voting doesn't stop the shit eating from happening, just allows the lighting on fire to also happen.
By choosing the less shit option, politicians will see they need to be less shit to get elected, eventually to the point of maybe even having good candidates. Allowing the worst candidate to win tells the politicians they can get worse and still have their coveted power.
By choosing the less shit option, politicians will see they need to be less shit to get elected, eventually to the point of maybe even having good candidates.
This is demonstrably false. After Obama was elected twice we got Trump. Clinton was picked in 2016 and was so terrible that she couldn't beat the orange turd. After her loss they gave us a "status quo" clone of her who barely managed to defeat the orange turd. Now we're faced with the exact same choice and polling shows that it's likely to end up like it did in 2016. Both parties continue to move further and further right regardless of who's getting elected and we're being forced to choose from the same tiny pool of candidates every election even though there are hundreds of millions of people in this country.
When those are the only two options, fuck yeah: Picking nothing is way worse than picking the least bad option. You'll be either the metaphorical shit regardless, why risk worse?
Continuing to vote against the other candidate rather than voting for who you want allows them to keep doing worse and worse because that other party is always going to be there and always considered worse and supporters of that party will look at the other side and do the same. There is zero accountability for either side to the point where both candidates now openly support genocide and you have people arguing that "you're a piece of shit for not supporting them."
By continuing to vocally support eating shit, you're ensuring that in a few elections we'll be supporting eating shit and lighting ourselves on fire because the other side will be eating shit, lighting ourselves on fire, and giving a rim job to a horse. To support our current system is to support a race to the bottom.
People can and should criticize flaws, but to not vote because you don't like either choice solves absolutely nothing, guaranteeing only that things will get worse. Your argument simply does not hold up and you're arguing against something I never claimed.
We should continue to push for and work towards things like ranked choice voting, but letting the worst of the worst win is guaranteed to prevent progress.
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.
They're gonna have trouble affording smuggled oranges and tinned meat, too, when they're in the camps with bread and water as the standard food.
I get what you're saying and I'm not tryin to sit in judgement. But also, this one is fuckin important.
Well it may be be fuckin important but people have to fuckin eat and have a roof over their fuckin heads, too
"Doctors of Reddit..."
"I'm not a doctor, but...."
That's your energy right there. Came in here hoping for actual answers and this trash comment is top. Pure speculation from someone on the opposite side.
If you're not someone who doesn't vote and you're simply speculating, I would suggest you delete this comment.
I will give your suggestion 100% of the careful attention and obedience that it deserves.
OP deserves someone participating in the conversation who can honestly answer the question they've asked. Your speculation only adds to the ignorance others already have. You are enforcing an echo chamber and being disrespectful.
I mean your comment isn't 100% off base. I was just being a little prickly about it for reasons that will become clear below -- so the reason I chimed in is:
Me saying my piece on it in no way makes it difficult for others who want to answer the question to give the answers OP deserves.
Some of the people who are going to answer this question who fall into category #2 are going to lie, by definition, and I think it's relevant to point that out and be able to talk about it (that that factor is relevant to the discussion). If everyone was coming into this discussion and telling the truth, then yes it would be inappropriate for someone else to come in and say what those other people's answers were probably going to be.
A long debate about whether or not there are political astroturf accounts on Lemmy is probably off topic here, so I made a thread which might be a little more suited to it.
I will give your suggestion 100% of the careful attention and obedience that it deserves.
I'll be appropriating this phrase. This requires no further action on your part. Thank your for your cooperation.
Dude is just a douche who wants his soapbox.
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 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.
And here's the long version - for those that are interested.
It's one day, with most states allowing mail-in in advance. You have no excuse for not fulfilling your duty as a citizen to ensure least negative outcome of elections.
I had my own shit to deal with
So does every other fucking adult, and now we have even more shit to deal with, thanks for that
Don't berate people like this man
It takes one day to do the actual voting. It takes a lot more time to figure out who to vote for.
Everyone should invest that time.
He's saying he didn't even know what was happening. I bet trump won 2016 because in some peoples minds "it's boll clintons wife vs the guy from the pizza hut ads....well I LIKE pizza!"
Before trump won, his "policies" weren't well known. It's hard to remember, but when he won, people were surprised that the joke candidate won. I'm sure some people clueless to politics did it for the lulz.
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!
Ok
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
If you're speaking hyperbolically, sure. But when you're trying to have a genuine conversation with someone regarding a serious topic, using hyperbolic speech to belittle someone's position is pretty lame
If you're speaking hyperbolically, sure.
They are not. If trump wins many people will die. And he will be the new forever king of America.
Ok, but LITERALLY, the ballot says Donald Trump or Joe Biden. HYPERBOLICALLY it says fascism or not. Words don't just mean whatever we want them to mean, and if someone isn't already on board with Trump = fascism (which, don't get me wrong, I'm 100% on that boat), phrasing things in pointed, biased ways isn't going to convince them that we're the side of reason.
phrasing things in pointed, biased ways isn't going to convince them that we're the side of reason.
There is literally no way to reason these people out of the position they didn't reason themselves into. I'm of the firm belief that we need to be heckling, calling out, and generally being as rude and mean as possible to Nazis. Make the fuckers squirm back into their hole.
Read the parent comment that we are under; do they sound like a Nazi to you? I'm not talking about the people that have already made up their mind that they want a Trump presidency, I'm talking about the uninformed, the unaware, the people starting to doubt their resolve, the people unsure their voice matters.
There is literally no way to reason these people out of the position they didn't reason themselves into.
Regarding this, I recently saw the counterpoint of Santa. Most people never reason themselves into believing in Santa, but they do reason themselves out of it. Obviously there’s cognitive development that happens in between in the Santa case, but a lot of people form their core political beliefs pretty young, so that may be true of politics as well.
I’ve voted in every election since Bush senior in 1988 and I do not believe the other guy is speaking hyperbolically at all. It’s so different this time. It truly is.
I feel like everyone that is arguing with what I've said thinks that I don't agree that a Trump presidency will result in a huge increase in fascist ideology. It will be absolutely terrible if the man gets elected again and it absolutely will have drastic consequences to the US government.
This does not change the fact that LITERALLY, the ballot is between Biden and Trump, not between Fascism and Not-Fascism.
If someone is on the fence about something and you talk to them like there's only one logical option (even if there is only one logical option), the immediate reaction will almost be a defensive one, and rarely will they be persuaded to your way of thinking. Like the abortion example I gave above; if you were on the fence about abortion, and someone asked you if you thought murder was wrong, that would be a fair sign that they aren't presenting a good-faith discussion, and just want to brow-beat you in to their opinion. If you ask someone who (somehow) hasn't paid attention to politics in the last decade if they want to let [presidential candidate] turn the country into [bad thing], you're not opening a fair discussion, even if it's most likely true that the outcome you describe is the one we will see.
You are as pathetic as your weak defense of abandoning your most important civic duty. Your weakness hurts us all. Shame on you.
I... What? I think you've got me mistaken for someone else bud, I've voted in every election I could since I was 18, what civic duty have I abandoned? And where did I defend anything?
It's not a difficult choice at all because, you said it yourself; voting for or against when I already stated that I would vote for no one because we as a nation have put people in power that have the authority to supercede our vote. It's not a left or a right thing. It's not a democracy or fascism thing. It's a fact that every single American has to contend with because WE as American citizens allowed it to happen. Isn't that democracy?
Ok so you are deciding to not use your right, and thus will have no right to comment on the results of the election.
Is the one trying to overthrow democracy the fascist or the one funding the ethnic cleansing?
The one that wants to overthrow democracy and would like to fund the ethnic cleansing at an even higher rate/amount is the fascist. The one that has encouraged Israel to go faster / do more in Gaza is the fascist. I do not like Biden's weakness confronting Israel, but one is a cheerleader, and one is weakly pushing for caution.
Giving Israel the means to continue ethnic cleansing is more than cheerleading. Not that it would be acceptable if he were just cheering it on.
There's no evidence that Trump can do anything that Biden already isn't already, barring sending American soldiers to participate in the genocide which I doubt would be politically feasible for him. Israel doesn't need our soldiers, they do need our bombs though, which Biden has provided without any effective conditioning.
Not just funding but delivering planes, bombs, and weapons.
Kinda telling of how poor of a choice the Democratic candidates have been that they can't or can barely sway enough votes in their favor when this is on the line.
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.
when you feel it doesn’t matter
Nobody should give a fuck about how it fEeLs. Elections are verifiable and essential. You cry about the electoral college and yet don't vote which gives said EC even more of an advantage.
Having a rough day? Need someone to blame for it? That's cool. Have at it
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.
Duly noted, and I appreciate your not relegating my opinion to snorting self-sourced methane expulsions.
The harder notion for me here is that I have been voting since Bush Sr. / Clinton. This toilet keeps spinning faster as we get closer to the drain.
Until recent years, I believed that voting was exercising my rights and fighting the good fight. Maybe I'm jaded, which I think is fair, but I do think, in light of the circus we've watched the the past 8 years, that we've entered a new arena where violence ultimately is where this is headed. Someone responded here that I have permission to be something other than sad. Unfortunately, I disagree. When the shots ring out in political rage, we've effectively lost our civility.
I will reconsider my decision to not vote, but the bitterness might win out.
Even if this does end in political violence or civil war, if you vote, at least you will have tried to avoid that fate by participating in our democracy as much as possible. Voting is just so easy to do, how can you justify not doing it as anything but laziness? It can’t hurt and takes almost no effort.
Voting is easy as hell, you have no excuse. Shame on you, quite literally part of the problem.
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.
How dare you accuse him of excessive fart-huffing. Jenkum plays a significant role in many cultures and economic systems. Educate yourself. Huff a splort.
Ok.
You're permitted to do more than be sad
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.
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.
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.
Just curious - why would he be a candidate if he's not running for office?
Good question... If I remember correctly his motivation was to give a choice besides the only person that would have been on the ballot otherwise. Perhaps a moral choice because he thought that there should be at least another choice even if the result is the same in a good democracy.
And it's a good right to exercise for everyone even if you then choose not to take that position for one reason or another. Who knows what reason someone has, maybe just to be more well known...
When all of the candidates on a ballot are going to actively work against my values, why would I vote for any of them? That said, I have written in choices before, but it's a lot of work to do when literally no one will be taking notice of that vote.
Because one and only one of them might put you in a prison camp, and destroy the machinery by which you might ever hope to elect someone who would align with your values, without having to fight a war for it?
Or maybe, "only" deport 18 million people who didn’t do anything. But hey! If none of those 18 million is you or your family, that’d be okay. And you got to make your statement.
If I really cared about making a statement, I'd put more effort into regularly heading into polls to write-in my choice. I still would not be voting for either of the major parties.
I'm from the UK, I don't vote simply because I don't trust the shit politicians come out with during election periods and because of this I worry I will vote the wrong way. Time and time again promises are made and you never really seem to see the difference.
For example, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but it's been promised since Brexit more money will go into the NHS to release the pressure on the service. Yet the NHS seems to be in the worst condition currently it's ever been in.
The NHS is bad by design. You can't convert a great system to whatever the shit is in the US that makes. Avery select few people very rich. You first need to break it down by pulling money out of it, pull more money out of it, more still, then when it starts breaking down, complain about how badly it works and propose this wonderful new system that will fix all of that! Privatize everything and then move to whatever shit they have in the US and get rich
My state only does mail-in (AFAIK) and I don't have a stable address.
My state only does mail-in (AFAIK) and I don’t have a stable address.
Which state? I find it hard to believe this is a thing.
Early voting: Cast your ballot at any voter service center in your county from Monday, July 29, through Saturday, Aug. 10.
Voting at the polls: Hawai‘i votes mostly by mail, but some voter service centers are open on Election Day for walk-in voting and same-day registration.
In person: You can vote in person starting 18 days before an election and up until 8 p.m. on Election Day. Find your voting center by logging into VoteWA.gov or by contacting your county elections office. If you’re already registered, you don’t need to provide an ID.
On Election Day: You can register to vote in person at your county’s election office up until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Oregon (this one was trickier to find, but actually quite helpful):
Homeless U.S. Citizens Have a Right to Vote
Voters must provide a residence address on the voter registration form, but this address may be any definable location in the county that describes their physical location. This could be a shelter, park, motor home, or other identifiable location. The mailing address of a person who is homeless or who resides where mail service is unavailable can be the office of the county clerk. Voters can pick up their ballot at the county elections office.
Early in-person voting: If you prefer to vote in person, you can visit a voter service and polling center in your county to cast your ballot from Monday, Oct. 21 through Election Day.
Voting at the polls: Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Bring an acceptable ID, such as a valid Colorado driver’s license or Colorado ID.
Imagine caring so little about the future of your country and the world that you dont even bother googling 'where can I vote'
I'll preface this by saying that I am Canadian, not American, and I do always vote. I will find a way to make a choice and vote in our next election, but lately have been understanding why someone might not:
Everyone who has even a remote chance of winning has at least one position that I find entirely unacceptable. Like, I cannot in good faith vote for this person because this issue is an absolute deal-breaker for me. If I'm throwing my vote away by writing someone in, why even leave the house?
I once couldn't vote because I had to rush to my dying grandfather the day before the election. Apart from that I have voted in every single election.
I used to vote. Then people told me I was doing it wrong. So I stopped.
Adult up. This falls into the life basket of “you shouldn’t care what other people think”.
Thanks for motivating me.
I have missed a few in the past but I don't expect that for future as my state as mail in and I signed up for it as did my wife.
I've given up. Especially with my new address (same state), I don't think any of the races are even close.
I voted as hard as possible until (and including) 2022, but Dobbs hurt, and this latest round of SCOTUS rulings and it is going to be harder to get to a voting station. It just doesn't feel worth it.
Voting is harder in the US. I can almost get that the one party has made it more difficult to vote because it benefits that party. I am ever in awe at the hardship americans can sometimes endure to vote, and then see it nullified.
Voting in Canada is quaint but effective: I go to a polling place, I - now, Americans, this is gonna offend you - bring my driver's license to prove my ID, they write a line through my name on a piece of paper, I take the paper fn ballot behind the cardboard half-screen like it's high-school, and mark a big X in a few boxes, fold it and drop it into another cardboard box carefully marked 'ballots'. Then people count them by hand and by the end of the night we're 100% done.
Not everyone has a system as simple and effective. It's a massive effort to vote in America, and I'd love to see that fixed as well.
The last four times I've voted. I spent, on average, less than ten minutes from arriving at the place to vote, and leaving that place. And I don't mean at the booth itself. I'd say from when I parked the car, to when I left in the car... but I walked. 10 minutes (the first 3 times) and after moving, 5 minutes last time.
It's amazing how shit things can get, when enough people deliberately want to make it more shit. You know who and what I'm talking about. If not, I'd be happy to clarify.
Living in a state with universal mail-in voting, I honestly think I just don't understand how hard it is in states without that.
In Texas, it's pretty easy if you fit within the criteria and you do it early. You apply for a ballot, get it, fill it out, and send it back. As long as the USPS does their job (which on 1 occasion for me, they didn't), it works out.
I don't vote locally, because I live in a deep red state in which my vote doesn't matter. Because of the electoral college and first past the post voting, it also doesn't matter during presidential elections, but I vote in them anyway, because my dad always said you weren't allowed to complain about the president if you don't vote, and I like complaining.
Because our system is so broken it's like playing TF2 in 2020.
Probably more of a reason to vote.
I do sometimes vote, but as for the times I don't, the ballot is one big trick question.
the ballot is one big trick question
I’d like an explanation of what you actually mean by this and why not voting is better than voting for the least bad candidate, if you regard them all as bad.
the least bad candidate
^
It's a monarchy with extra steps. People deserve better.
It is not. You need to re-familiarize yourself with what monarchy actually is. Maybe spend a year in an actual monarchy/dictatorship country if you have so little appreciation for the democracy you currently enjoy?
Monarchy is rule by means of individuals whose positions cannot change. That roughly describes the US. There's so much imbalance and indecision and so much of the power where it shouldn't be that it's de facto no different from choosing between two lineages every four years, only to get screwed over each time by several of the promises being a sham. There are other proclaimed democracies that are truer to their word.
the ballot is one big trick question.
It really isn't. It does require some basic engagement and research. Maybe 10-15 minutes max if you don't care to get too in-depth. You can always skip ballot measures - they are more time-consuming, for sure.
So it doesn't bother you there are only two choices every four years?
So it doesn’t bother you there are only two choices every four years?
Of course it bothers me. Which is why I donate to and help with the campaigns for progressive candidates. But our political system is not going to change any time soon and throwing up your hands because the choices aren't perfect is counter-productive. If you do that, you end up with LESS choice. By voting and voting consistently you open the door, even if it's just a crack, for more progressive choices. By not voting you ensure that we continue to be stuck with two bad choices.
Real progress has been made. And the real enemy of that progress is apathy.
So in other words, you don't want to think or even google the candidates name and look at their website.
As opposed to better ones? The system we have is one that has been overridden by normalized acceptance of a tiny pool of people not even good for the work.
I come from a deep blue state, but haven’t lived in the US in years and every time I get an absentee ballot, it’s too late to send it in. I still apply, but we’ll see if it comes in time
Not me but a friend of mine is just very black pilled on all the political candidates. That said, he's also the only person I know who regularly goes to protests and he very often calls his local representatives. So he's definitely politically active, he just doesn't vote. I don't really know why that's where he draws the line.
I don't like either candidate. I don't believe either one is better than the other so I have no stake either way.
Also the electoral college I don't trust my representative will vote the way I want.
Also this country has been bought and paid for a long time ago. Most political affiliations are garnered by lobbyists employed by massive bureaucratic corporations.
Just look at the supreme Court.
You want change? Revolution is the only way. The tree of liberty should be fertilized by the blood of Patriots and tyrants from time to time.
Apolitical spectator.
You're part of the problem, removing a sane voice only allows the insane to be heard that much more.
Whose problem? I just said I operate as an apolitical spectator.
I'm not sure the election system is not fixed.
But I would vote in this election if I were American. A lot is at stake. Which old man will smell the most.
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.
Jury duty wasn't fun (child abuse case), but it was one hell of an education. I'm still greatful to have had such smart fellow jurors so we could really consider everything. You get to see how the world works.
don’t pick me for jury duty because always guilty 100% idgaf
I maliciously complied with Jury Duty. I went. I sat in the room 8 hours a day for a week reading a conspicuously large copy of "Atlas Shrugged".
Weird, they didn't pick me... :)
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.
"Making a difference" and "electing one of two unpopular candidates" don't necessarily go hand in hand.
If the two unpopular candidates were perfectly equal then your argument might have weight, but in my book there's one that's horrible, and one that's not great, but also not horrible.
Politics never has a good candidate, it's always between two bad choices. It's just choosing the best of the two.
Well now you're catching on to why so many people don't even bother. It's almost as if these two parties want it that way so they can maintain their control. Why do you think the Democrats keep picking candidates that either lose or struggle to win against someone like Trump?
I guess in my thinking, if the act of not voting means you are okay with letting the worst candidate win, then by not voting it means I'm okay with a lot of innocent people being hurt by the horrid policies of the worse candidate. By voting for the lesser of two evils, I'm more saying "I don't want that other candidate".
You're trying to say it's their plot to give you two candidates. What if their plot is instead to convince you not to vote, so their bad candidate gets in easier because you could have helped stop it?
What are you helping to stop when both candidates are terrible? You're helping in the same way that "thoughts and prayers" helps people. You're simply participating in a rigged game and thinking that your participation is some sort of moral choice and "doing the right thing" when in reality that feeling is just self-gratification.
If you think you're helping, why does the political landscape continue to devolve and slide further to the right regardless of who wins? Why are more and more people becoming poor and homeless while a handful of companies and individuals are reaping all the rewards? That's the trajectory you're arguing to help maintain here.
Personally the farther left we go, the louder the right gets. To me, I see a losing battle that they're desperately trying to win. They may win temporarily now and again, but overwhelmingly the younger generations are more liberal. It's why we see the desperate grab for power now, they know even with the tricks it's just a matter of time.
And for your first, I stand by what I said. Your assumption is that both candidates are equal, so what's the point. Except from my point of view, one is vastly better than the alternative, so there is a point.
“Unpopular” is a pretty carefully chosen criterion there
Damn straight which is why the Dems handed a win to Trump in 2016 and why polling shows that he's likely to win again this year. It takes careful choosing to pick someone that people dislike so much that he can't even win against a bloated orange fascist.
That's like eating shit and lightning yourself on fire instead of just eating shit.
When you compare our choices to eating shit or eating shit and lighting yourself on fire, is it really much of a question why people aren't volunteering to do either of those things?
One is going to be picked for you either way. Not voting doesn't stop the shit eating from happening, just allows the lighting on fire to also happen.
By choosing the less shit option, politicians will see they need to be less shit to get elected, eventually to the point of maybe even having good candidates. Allowing the worst candidate to win tells the politicians they can get worse and still have their coveted power.
This is demonstrably false. After Obama was elected twice we got Trump. Clinton was picked in 2016 and was so terrible that she couldn't beat the orange turd. After her loss they gave us a "status quo" clone of her who barely managed to defeat the orange turd. Now we're faced with the exact same choice and polling shows that it's likely to end up like it did in 2016. Both parties continue to move further and further right regardless of who's getting elected and we're being forced to choose from the same tiny pool of candidates every election even though there are hundreds of millions of people in this country.
When those are the only two options, fuck yeah: Picking nothing is way worse than picking the least bad option. You'll be either the metaphorical shit regardless, why risk worse?
Continuing to vote against the other candidate rather than voting for who you want allows them to keep doing worse and worse because that other party is always going to be there and always considered worse and supporters of that party will look at the other side and do the same. There is zero accountability for either side to the point where both candidates now openly support genocide and you have people arguing that "you're a piece of shit for not supporting them."
By continuing to vocally support eating shit, you're ensuring that in a few elections we'll be supporting eating shit and lighting ourselves on fire because the other side will be eating shit, lighting ourselves on fire, and giving a rim job to a horse. To support our current system is to support a race to the bottom.
People can and should criticize flaws, but to not vote because you don't like either choice solves absolutely nothing, guaranteeing only that things will get worse. Your argument simply does not hold up and you're arguing against something I never claimed.
We should continue to push for and work towards things like ranked choice voting, but letting the worst of the worst win is guaranteed to prevent progress.
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.
They're gonna have trouble affording smuggled oranges and tinned meat, too, when they're in the camps with bread and water as the standard food.
I get what you're saying and I'm not tryin to sit in judgement. But also, this one is fuckin important.
Well it may be be fuckin important but people have to fuckin eat and have a roof over their fuckin heads, too
"Doctors of Reddit..."
"I'm not a doctor, but...."
That's your energy right there. Came in here hoping for actual answers and this trash comment is top. Pure speculation from someone on the opposite side.
If you're not someone who doesn't vote and you're simply speculating, I would suggest you delete this comment.
I will give your suggestion 100% of the careful attention and obedience that it deserves.
OP deserves someone participating in the conversation who can honestly answer the question they've asked. Your speculation only adds to the ignorance others already have. You are enforcing an echo chamber and being disrespectful.
I mean your comment isn't 100% off base. I was just being a little prickly about it for reasons that will become clear below -- so the reason I chimed in is:
A long debate about whether or not there are political astroturf accounts on Lemmy is probably off topic here, so I made a thread which might be a little more suited to it.
I'll be appropriating this phrase. This requires no further action on your part. Thank your for your cooperation.
Dude is just a douche who wants his soapbox.
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 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.
And here's the long version - for those that are interested.
It's one day, with most states allowing mail-in in advance. You have no excuse for not fulfilling your duty as a citizen to ensure least negative outcome of elections.
So does every other fucking adult, and now we have even more shit to deal with, thanks for that
Don't berate people like this man
It takes one day to do the actual voting. It takes a lot more time to figure out who to vote for.
Everyone should invest that time.
He's saying he didn't even know what was happening. I bet trump won 2016 because in some peoples minds "it's boll clintons wife vs the guy from the pizza hut ads....well I LIKE pizza!"
Before trump won, his "policies" weren't well known. It's hard to remember, but when he won, people were surprised that the joke candidate won. I'm sure some people clueless to politics did it for the lulz.
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!
Ok
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.
This specific election is literally just this
If you're speaking hyperbolically, sure. But when you're trying to have a genuine conversation with someone regarding a serious topic, using hyperbolic speech to belittle someone's position is pretty lame
They are not. If trump wins many people will die. And he will be the new forever king of America.
Ok, but LITERALLY, the ballot says Donald Trump or Joe Biden. HYPERBOLICALLY it says fascism or not. Words don't just mean whatever we want them to mean, and if someone isn't already on board with Trump = fascism (which, don't get me wrong, I'm 100% on that boat), phrasing things in pointed, biased ways isn't going to convince them that we're the side of reason.
There is literally no way to reason these people out of the position they didn't reason themselves into. I'm of the firm belief that we need to be heckling, calling out, and generally being as rude and mean as possible to Nazis. Make the fuckers squirm back into their hole.
Read the parent comment that we are under; do they sound like a Nazi to you? I'm not talking about the people that have already made up their mind that they want a Trump presidency, I'm talking about the uninformed, the unaware, the people starting to doubt their resolve, the people unsure their voice matters.
Regarding this, I recently saw the counterpoint of Santa. Most people never reason themselves into believing in Santa, but they do reason themselves out of it. Obviously there’s cognitive development that happens in between in the Santa case, but a lot of people form their core political beliefs pretty young, so that may be true of politics as well.
I’ve voted in every election since Bush senior in 1988 and I do not believe the other guy is speaking hyperbolically at all. It’s so different this time. It truly is.
I feel like everyone that is arguing with what I've said thinks that I don't agree that a Trump presidency will result in a huge increase in fascist ideology. It will be absolutely terrible if the man gets elected again and it absolutely will have drastic consequences to the US government.
This does not change the fact that LITERALLY, the ballot is between Biden and Trump, not between Fascism and Not-Fascism.
If someone is on the fence about something and you talk to them like there's only one logical option (even if there is only one logical option), the immediate reaction will almost be a defensive one, and rarely will they be persuaded to your way of thinking. Like the abortion example I gave above; if you were on the fence about abortion, and someone asked you if you thought murder was wrong, that would be a fair sign that they aren't presenting a good-faith discussion, and just want to brow-beat you in to their opinion. If you ask someone who (somehow) hasn't paid attention to politics in the last decade if they want to let [presidential candidate] turn the country into [bad thing], you're not opening a fair discussion, even if it's most likely true that the outcome you describe is the one we will see.
You are as pathetic as your weak defense of abandoning your most important civic duty. Your weakness hurts us all. Shame on you.
I... What? I think you've got me mistaken for someone else bud, I've voted in every election I could since I was 18, what civic duty have I abandoned? And where did I defend anything?
It's not a difficult choice at all because, you said it yourself; voting for or against when I already stated that I would vote for no one because we as a nation have put people in power that have the authority to supercede our vote. It's not a left or a right thing. It's not a democracy or fascism thing. It's a fact that every single American has to contend with because WE as American citizens allowed it to happen. Isn't that democracy?
Ok so you are deciding to not use your right, and thus will have no right to comment on the results of the election.
“I dont care either way”
Yes I do
Is the one trying to overthrow democracy the fascist or the one funding the ethnic cleansing?
The one that wants to overthrow democracy and would like to fund the ethnic cleansing at an even higher rate/amount is the fascist. The one that has encouraged Israel to go faster / do more in Gaza is the fascist. I do not like Biden's weakness confronting Israel, but one is a cheerleader, and one is weakly pushing for caution.
Giving Israel the means to continue ethnic cleansing is more than cheerleading. Not that it would be acceptable if he were just cheering it on.
There's no evidence that Trump can do anything that Biden already isn't already, barring sending American soldiers to participate in the genocide which I doubt would be politically feasible for him. Israel doesn't need our soldiers, they do need our bombs though, which Biden has provided without any effective conditioning.
Not just funding but delivering planes, bombs, and weapons.
Kinda telling of how poor of a choice the Democratic candidates have been that they can't or can barely sway enough votes in their favor when this is on the line.
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.
Nobody should give a fuck about how it fEeLs. Elections are verifiable and essential. You cry about the electoral college and yet don't vote which gives said EC even more of an advantage.
Having a rough day? Need someone to blame for it? That's cool. Have at it
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.
Duly noted, and I appreciate your not relegating my opinion to snorting self-sourced methane expulsions.
The harder notion for me here is that I have been voting since Bush Sr. / Clinton. This toilet keeps spinning faster as we get closer to the drain.
Until recent years, I believed that voting was exercising my rights and fighting the good fight. Maybe I'm jaded, which I think is fair, but I do think, in light of the circus we've watched the the past 8 years, that we've entered a new arena where violence ultimately is where this is headed. Someone responded here that I have permission to be something other than sad. Unfortunately, I disagree. When the shots ring out in political rage, we've effectively lost our civility.
I will reconsider my decision to not vote, but the bitterness might win out.
Even if this does end in political violence or civil war, if you vote, at least you will have tried to avoid that fate by participating in our democracy as much as possible. Voting is just so easy to do, how can you justify not doing it as anything but laziness? It can’t hurt and takes almost no effort.
Voting is easy as hell, you have no excuse. Shame on you, quite literally part of the problem.
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.
How dare you accuse him of excessive fart-huffing. Jenkum plays a significant role in many cultures and economic systems. Educate yourself. Huff a splort.
Ok.
You're permitted to do more than be sad
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.
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.
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.
Just curious - why would he be a candidate if he's not running for office?
Good question... If I remember correctly his motivation was to give a choice besides the only person that would have been on the ballot otherwise. Perhaps a moral choice because he thought that there should be at least another choice even if the result is the same in a good democracy.
And it's a good right to exercise for everyone even if you then choose not to take that position for one reason or another. Who knows what reason someone has, maybe just to be more well known...
When all of the candidates on a ballot are going to actively work against my values, why would I vote for any of them? That said, I have written in choices before, but it's a lot of work to do when literally no one will be taking notice of that vote.
Because one and only one of them might put you in a prison camp, and destroy the machinery by which you might ever hope to elect someone who would align with your values, without having to fight a war for it?
Or maybe, "only" deport 18 million people who didn’t do anything. But hey! If none of those 18 million is you or your family, that’d be okay. And you got to make your statement.
If I really cared about making a statement, I'd put more effort into regularly heading into polls to write-in my choice. I still would not be voting for either of the major parties.
I'm from the UK, I don't vote simply because I don't trust the shit politicians come out with during election periods and because of this I worry I will vote the wrong way. Time and time again promises are made and you never really seem to see the difference.
For example, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but it's been promised since Brexit more money will go into the NHS to release the pressure on the service. Yet the NHS seems to be in the worst condition currently it's ever been in.
The NHS is bad by design. You can't convert a great system to whatever the shit is in the US that makes. Avery select few people very rich. You first need to break it down by pulling money out of it, pull more money out of it, more still, then when it starts breaking down, complain about how badly it works and propose this wonderful new system that will fix all of that! Privatize everything and then move to whatever shit they have in the US and get rich
My state only does mail-in (AFAIK) and I don't have a stable address.
Which state? I find it hard to believe this is a thing.
Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado
Hawaii:
Washington:
Oregon (this one was trickier to find, but actually quite helpful):
Utah:
Colorado:
Imagine caring so little about the future of your country and the world that you dont even bother googling 'where can I vote'
I'll preface this by saying that I am Canadian, not American, and I do always vote. I will find a way to make a choice and vote in our next election, but lately have been understanding why someone might not:
Everyone who has even a remote chance of winning has at least one position that I find entirely unacceptable. Like, I cannot in good faith vote for this person because this issue is an absolute deal-breaker for me. If I'm throwing my vote away by writing someone in, why even leave the house?
I once couldn't vote because I had to rush to my dying grandfather the day before the election. Apart from that I have voted in every single election.
I used to vote. Then people told me I was doing it wrong. So I stopped.
Adult up. This falls into the life basket of “you shouldn’t care what other people think”.
Thanks for motivating me.
I have missed a few in the past but I don't expect that for future as my state as mail in and I signed up for it as did my wife.
I've given up. Especially with my new address (same state), I don't think any of the races are even close.
I voted as hard as possible until (and including) 2022, but Dobbs hurt, and this latest round of SCOTUS rulings and it is going to be harder to get to a voting station. It just doesn't feel worth it.
Voting is harder in the US. I can almost get that the one party has made it more difficult to vote because it benefits that party. I am ever in awe at the hardship americans can sometimes endure to vote, and then see it nullified.
Voting in Canada is quaint but effective: I go to a polling place, I - now, Americans, this is gonna offend you - bring my driver's license to prove my ID, they write a line through my name on a piece of paper, I take the paper fn ballot behind the cardboard half-screen like it's high-school, and mark a big X in a few boxes, fold it and drop it into another cardboard box carefully marked 'ballots'. Then people count them by hand and by the end of the night we're 100% done.
Not everyone has a system as simple and effective. It's a massive effort to vote in America, and I'd love to see that fixed as well.
The last four times I've voted. I spent, on average, less than ten minutes from arriving at the place to vote, and leaving that place. And I don't mean at the booth itself. I'd say from when I parked the car, to when I left in the car... but I walked. 10 minutes (the first 3 times) and after moving, 5 minutes last time.
It's amazing how shit things can get, when enough people deliberately want to make it more shit. You know who and what I'm talking about. If not, I'd be happy to clarify.
Living in a state with universal mail-in voting, I honestly think I just don't understand how hard it is in states without that.
In Texas, it's pretty easy if you fit within the criteria and you do it early. You apply for a ballot, get it, fill it out, and send it back. As long as the USPS does their job (which on 1 occasion for me, they didn't), it works out.
I don't vote locally, because I live in a deep red state in which my vote doesn't matter. Because of the electoral college and first past the post voting, it also doesn't matter during presidential elections, but I vote in them anyway, because my dad always said you weren't allowed to complain about the president if you don't vote, and I like complaining.
Because our system is so broken it's like playing TF2 in 2020.
Probably more of a reason to vote.
I do sometimes vote, but as for the times I don't, the ballot is one big trick question.
I’d like an explanation of what you actually mean by this and why not voting is better than voting for the least bad candidate, if you regard them all as bad.
^
It's a monarchy with extra steps. People deserve better.
It is not. You need to re-familiarize yourself with what monarchy actually is. Maybe spend a year in an actual monarchy/dictatorship country if you have so little appreciation for the democracy you currently enjoy?
Monarchy is rule by means of individuals whose positions cannot change. That roughly describes the US. There's so much imbalance and indecision and so much of the power where it shouldn't be that it's de facto no different from choosing between two lineages every four years, only to get screwed over each time by several of the promises being a sham. There are other proclaimed democracies that are truer to their word.
It really isn't. It does require some basic engagement and research. Maybe 10-15 minutes max if you don't care to get too in-depth. You can always skip ballot measures - they are more time-consuming, for sure.
So it doesn't bother you there are only two choices every four years?
Of course it bothers me. Which is why I donate to and help with the campaigns for progressive candidates. But our political system is not going to change any time soon and throwing up your hands because the choices aren't perfect is counter-productive. If you do that, you end up with LESS choice. By voting and voting consistently you open the door, even if it's just a crack, for more progressive choices. By not voting you ensure that we continue to be stuck with two bad choices.
Real progress has been made. And the real enemy of that progress is apathy.
So in other words, you don't want to think or even google the candidates name and look at their website.
As opposed to better ones? The system we have is one that has been overridden by normalized acceptance of a tiny pool of people not even good for the work.
I come from a deep blue state, but haven’t lived in the US in years and every time I get an absentee ballot, it’s too late to send it in. I still apply, but we’ll see if it comes in time
Not me but a friend of mine is just very black pilled on all the political candidates. That said, he's also the only person I know who regularly goes to protests and he very often calls his local representatives. So he's definitely politically active, he just doesn't vote. I don't really know why that's where he draws the line.
I don't like either candidate. I don't believe either one is better than the other so I have no stake either way.
Also the electoral college I don't trust my representative will vote the way I want.
Also this country has been bought and paid for a long time ago. Most political affiliations are garnered by lobbyists employed by massive bureaucratic corporations.
Just look at the supreme Court.
You want change? Revolution is the only way. The tree of liberty should be fertilized by the blood of Patriots and tyrants from time to time.
Apolitical spectator.
You're part of the problem, removing a sane voice only allows the insane to be heard that much more.
Whose problem? I just said I operate as an apolitical spectator.
I'm not sure the election system is not fixed.
But I would vote in this election if I were American. A lot is at stake. Which old man will smell the most.