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?
I live in Nebraska and I feel the same way. I go out and vote in every election because that’s my civic duty, if the majority of people in your area with our same feeling actually went out and vote it is possible to become a swing state.
That being said my personal opinion is if you don’t vote you forfeit your right to complain about politics. You didn’t voice your opinion when it was important, so you shouldn’t voice it when it’s not.
Edit: spelling
Same! I’m in a red state but I have voted in every election since I reached the age to vote (a looong time ago). Yeah, my state always goes red for POTUS but I still vote Dem for POTUS so we don’t look like we’re a total shithole state. We have a Dem governor, a Dem House rep in DC, and my personal State senator and rep are Dems, too–I helped put them there. Dems are still quite outnumbered in the State legislature, but there’s been enough of them to keep the repubs from overriding the governor’s veto of some of their fascist bullshit bills. Every bit helps.
Vote. You don’t have to vote for Biden or Trump, you can write in a vote or choose a third party or independent candidate on the ballot, if your State allows it. Not for the reason of making practical change, because it won’t in a two party system, but to show the analytics, media, the ruling power that you don’t have to vote for the lesser of two evils. Anyone that says otherwise does not know what democracy means and supports a broken system through enabling. Local votes ate more important IMO, always vote for that. The more informed you are, the less likely you are to support a broken system.
Always vote. Progressives lose elections because 30% of any population votes for the conservative at every single election, no matter what, like it’s a religion. Progressives need a culture that says: ALWAYS VOTE. It doesn’t fucking matter if it doesn’t fucking matter. Vote anyway. Let your kids see you voting like it’s actually important. Make it important.
One of the best comments I’ve seen here. Kudos
Yes it absolutely makes a difference. Also make sure you are voting in all elections, local elections are just as important as the national elections.
just under 50% of people voted in Ohio in the 2020 election.
Trump won by 8%.
If just 9% of the people who felt like you (what’s the point of voting) had showed up to vote for Biden, that would have flipped the state.
No single raindrop believes it can make any difference. But together, all those insignificant raindrops can change the course of a river in a single day.
If, and it’s a big IF, the electronic voting system software is legit.
So easy to do. Or, used to be.
This is EXACTLY what was in my head as I wrote the post.
I wish I could nominate your comment to be pinned to the top of responses. Alas, all I have is a single upvote; but you have it.
And my ax!
And my Stapler!
Each of us upvoted, making this the top comment in the thread. I voted to make a difference.
Team effort. And that’s how we win.
If you are voting the opposite of the norm in your area, you are making a bigger impact than the reverse of the situation. Go by county and try to flip yours to blue. If it happens to flip, your vote counts 100%, otherwise you have at least tried and voted. Here is some links to check 2020 results by town or county.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html
It’ll stay red if people don’t vote
Voting gives you the right to complain. If you don’t vote, you lose that right.
If Ohio voted 15% blue last election and then votes 25% blue this election, that’s significant information that tells people there may be momentum for change.
There may not be a chance of winning this election , but every vote tells people what people want.
If you don’t vote, Ohio will always look like it will only ever vote red.
Yes! Downballot offices usually have a greater effect on your life than higher ones, in fact.
And I guarantee you that if every voter who thought their vote didn’t count went out and voted, they damn well would count. The turnout last election was 46% of elligible voters. 46%! Half of us who could vote, didn’t! 53% is enough to swing any state.
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Remember that the president isn’t the only thing on the ballot.
Don’t give up on fighting fascism from your school board up to your state reps. If you organize/join existing groups, you can make your voice heard.
voting red or blue will not change anything
until people realize there are third parties to vote for nothing will happen
Ah yes all the votes for Nader. It did change things, but ask yourself how it changed things. The answer: it changed things for the worse. Big time.
And all those protest no votes against Hilary. Again, how did that change things? Again, it changed things for the worse. Fucking tenfold worse.
If you want things to move left, you do that by giving Dems victories.
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.
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.
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.
Ohio’s Electoral College votes are cast for the winner of the state, not per district [1]. Of course you should vote for Biden (or whoever the ultimate candidate against Trump will be)!
[1] - “As a winner-takes-all state, the candidate that wins Ohio gets all 18 Electoral College votes.”, https://www.ideastream.org/community/2020-10-21/how-are-ohios-electoral-college-votes-decided
Thank you, this is the kind of info I was looking for. If county/district mattered. So all of Ohio is Talley’d up and all votes from the whole state are in the same pool?
Thats right. Your vote counts the same as one in Cincinnati or Cleveland or Athens etc. then the whole state goes one way or another. Thats why turnout is so important!
Also there might be down ballot races you vote for that move the needle. Everyone forgets about local elections but they actually matter way more to your life on a day to day basis.
In terms of the Electoral College votes, yes, it looks that way. But either way, I’d say to please vote. It matters.
All states except Maine and Nebraska tally votes cast statewide and allocate all electoral votes from that state to the winner. Specific concentrations of voters in those states aren’t factored into the allocation.
