Only 37% of eligible American citizens voted in all three of the most recent national general elections, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center – even though those elections saw some of the highest turnout in decades. The analysis, which tracked individual Americans’ voting decisions over the past six years, highlights both the limited share of the public that consistently votes, and the degree to which the fluctuations in turnout can alter the electoral landscape. The findings, taken in conjunction with other, sometimes-conflicting sources of election data, help to draw a more detailed profile of the 2022 electorate.
Isn’t the problem that there’s only two options? Here in Norway we have 10 different parties that are all quite popular. To me having only two options seems only marginally better than 1.
Yes. They have FPTP elections everywhere from top to bottom. Even state houses and senates are divided in blue and red because of this, WTF.
They could really do with an electoral system update.
Yes, but the problem is deeper than that because one party is demonstrably worse than the other. Dems are still too conservative, Republicans are literally tearing the country apart.
I always use this analogy when people say "but the Democrats aren’t giving me everything I want:
You’re on 8th Street and want to get to 1st Street. In front of you are two cabs. The Democrat cab will only take you to 3rd Street. Close, but not really your destination. The Republican cab will take you to 16th Street before locking you in the cab and setting it on fire with you inside.
By the way, not choosing in this analogy isn’t an option. If you don’t choose (don’t vote), then a cab is chosen for you.
So is the Democratic cab perfect? Of course not. However, it’s a lot easier to recover from being dropped off at 3rd Street than it is being set on fire all the way over on 16th Street.
Considering the state of the US, it’s really amazing more people don’t vote.
Isn’t the problem that there’s only two options? Here in Norway we have 10 different parties that are all quite popular. To me having only two options seems only marginally better than 1.
Yes. They have FPTP elections everywhere from top to bottom. Even state houses and senates are divided in blue and red because of this, WTF. They could really do with an electoral system update.
Yes, but the problem is deeper than that because one party is demonstrably worse than the other. Dems are still too conservative, Republicans are literally tearing the country apart.
I always use this analogy when people say "but the Democrats aren’t giving me everything I want:
You’re on 8th Street and want to get to 1st Street. In front of you are two cabs. The Democrat cab will only take you to 3rd Street. Close, but not really your destination. The Republican cab will take you to 16th Street before locking you in the cab and setting it on fire with you inside.
By the way, not choosing in this analogy isn’t an option. If you don’t choose (don’t vote), then a cab is chosen for you.
So is the Democratic cab perfect? Of course not. However, it’s a lot easier to recover from being dropped off at 3rd Street than it is being set on fire all the way over on 16th Street.
Well the problem is we don’t have ranked choice voting in most all places. So if you’re not voting for red or blue you are kinda wasting your vote.
That’s what happens when you have a presidential election system like the electoral college instead of a popular vote.
Liberal voter in Arkansas? Your vote doesn’t matter. Conservative voter in California? Your vote doesn’t matter.
It’s just the sad reality of a winner-take-all system that places more importance on the geographical size of a state rather than individual voters.