I’m not an American so I’m not sure I understand. Wikipedia says voter turnout in 2016 was 59.2% of the voting-eligible population. Even if we count is a percentage of the voting-age population (i.e. including people with felonies or without citizenship or barred from voting for other reasons) it’s still 54.8% voter turnout.
But that bar at the top of the graph makes it look like only around 15% voted.
Can someone explain?
It’s cause by FPTP. If the largest share of voters in a given state were people that didn’t vote, all the electoral college votes should go to “did not vote.” That doesn’t happen IRL because they just ignore low voter turnout.
It’s true but for the broader picture one should add that many people don’t bother to vote if their state is predicted to be a landslide victory for either candidate.
Does the top graph not just show that all the gray states had people that did not vote be the largest percentage.
So if for example 30% voted for Biden and 31% for Trump, you still have 39% that did not vote thus making the non voter ‘candidate’ win.
In this case the voter turnout is 61% yet the non voters represent the biggest share.
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40.6% is bigger than half of 59.2%
Are the states that have a majority swing states, so have more advertising and campaigning, or are they just more politically active?
Politically active. MN is decidedly not a swing state and is here.
If it didn’t help other global powers, i.e. Russia, I’d say this is a reason to have New England be it’s own country.
so theres lots of room for the libertarian party
Special type of stupid to see a variety of issues boiling down to “muh liburaltianisms” …truth be told most people aren’t that dumb.
Leaving the office empty for a term is the only democratic outcome.
we really do need a default option for “fuck off im not voting”
What if “didn’t vote” counted as “voted against both options, please try again with less shitty candidates.”?
I think we’d have a better world
Hot take: voter suppression would be far more widespread, as it would stalemate the current “interim” government into power. Permanently. The current system, for all its flaws, doesn’t have that weakness.
My counter to that is the interim gets executed if they go over a time limit, and new one is appointed.
I like the way you think
What if “didn’t vote” counted as “voted for both options, they’re equally wonderful and we’d be happy either way”?
I’ll take one good option. That’s all I ask, someone to vote for, not as a vote against the other person.
kamala is worth voting for tbqh
The problem with a Presidential system is that there are plenty of eligible candidates. There just aren’t any “electable” ones. Even within a given state, you often only have one “electable” option, because your state is going to tilt 5-30pts towards that person anyway.
One of the appeals of a small-district parliamentary process (as seen in pretty much every other functioning liberal democracy) is that you don’t need to choose between Old Racist Fuck and Coconut Lady. You can focus your attention on local politics and send up an MP aligned with a regional party willing to form coalition on the condition they can bring back some benefits to their community.
But that requires you to have elected officials you can actually meet in your neighborhood, rather than minor aristocrats who govern from impenetrable gerrymanders spread across a 50 mile territory.
Well that’s what it counts as now.
Not really, did not vote is exactly the same as voted for the winner. In a FPTP not voting is saying whoever wins, that’s what I wanted.
That would be amazing… If it were true
And also ranked choice voting, so there can be more than just 2 people running. F the 2 party system.
Absolutely
…okay, you’ve convinced me. As someone from a beige state that’s been presidentially blue for over 30 years (meaning my vote means dick-all due to EC shenanigans), I will continue to show up and vote to make sure it stays that way.
Maybe one day I’ll even get an inspiring candidate to vote for.
You intend to vote red?
No, they were saying they didn’t bother since their party was winning anyway. Easy to misread though.
I did vote in 2000. “Wait… so the son of the VP during Regan’s Reign of Dementia is really a for real candidate?” Didn’t matter, state went blue, Florida did not because some guy named Chad Brooks hung his brother in front of SCOTUS.
I did vote in 2004. “Well this guy is completely forgettable but at least junior is going to follow in daddy’s footsteps and be a one pump chump.” Didn’t matter, state went blue, I begin to question reality.
I did vote in 2008. “I have no idea who this guy is but he talks a good game and he pisses off the bigots.” Didn’t matter, state went blue, record numbers came out to vote, and my mom suddenly cared about politics because she’s a racist piece of shit.
I did vote in 2012. “Let’s keep this rolling please and thank you.” Didn’t matter, state went blue, Bain Capital went on to kill both KayBee Toys and Toys R Us as revenge.
I did not vote in 2016. “These choices are bullshit, what the hell.” Didn’t matter, state went blue, large areas of empty space went red, and the oval office went orange despite almost three million more people voting for Buttery Males over Fraud Inc.
I did vote in 2020. “This election smells of mothballs and Icy Hot but at least I don’t have to stand in line.” Didn’t matter, state went blue, record numbers came out to vote, fascists went mask-off.
I will vote in 2024 (and already voted in the primary, which… didn’t matter). “I truly believe we are living in some sort of simulation, how can this possibly be real life?”
Pass the coconuts.
hey, maybe it doesn’t feel like it matters, but the margin of popular vote victory does mean something for the effectiveness and legitimacy of the ruling party (especially in the face of coup attempts)
Thank you for elaborating, and apologies for assuming I fully understood.
I totally get the existential dread, anxiety, and depression. Never easy to cope with.
All good, you covered for me while I was trying to be witty >_>
Ah, that still seems like a risky move.
Yup, that was the point. They used to do that but now realize they might actually be needed.
I’m assuming you’re showing up for more than presidential elections, though, right? Where your vote counts even more?
If you think presidential participation is low, you should see state and local numbers. Or don’t, if you’re prone to depression.
Yes. Unfortunately I live in a nepo congressional district where the mob boss’s — I’m sorry, party power broker’s — little brother has a seat for life and runs unopposed every primary. And said “power broker” is VERY deeply embedded in the state dem machine (and much of the business dealings in and out of the public view), to the point where court action was needed to stop the ballot placement fuckery.
It’s also next to impossible to dig up information on county commissioners, township committee, and school board candidates. “John Doe was born in neighboring Othertown but has lived and worked in Hometown for decades. He has three children in the local school system with his wife Jane. ‘I care very deeply about policy and I think things should be good, not bad.’ John likes to go for long walks in the local park when he’s not hang gliding at his mountain vacation house.”
Unfortunately techniques like this work, as (at least) one of the Moms Against Liberty types got voted onto the school board last term. The term before that, they were all mask-off for the standard conservative Covid crap and lost… but not by much. They scrubbed their online presence to be as generic as possible… and the only POC on the board lost her seat.
And yes, I am prone to depression.
And yes, I am prone to depression.
Felt.
This is the epitome of lying with statistics.
Maybe they should be.
… at least we voted! (Wisconsin)
Since I moved from a red state to Colorado it’s been mind blowing how painless and accessible it is to vote in this state.
Before every election all registered voters automatically get a mail-in ballot, as well as a detailed book explaining every issue & candidate on the ballot with sample arguments for & against. You can then either mail the ballot or drop it off in very convenient drop boxes that are usually less than 10 min from your place. In some ways it’s difficult to not have at least some idea of the political landscape for most voters.
Colorado has so many props on the ballot as well since I believe anything affecting taxes has to be voted on that way. I really like the direct democracy.
One odd holdover from TABOR (giant tax structure from the 90s that is still around in one way or another) is that any issue affecting taxes MUST BE PRINTED IN ALL CAPS FOR THE ENTIRE TEXT. It’s so funny to see
It’s also very manipulative. TABOR is the worst thing about Colorado honestly.
You’re also automatically registered to vote here as well. There’s a reason that Colorado is on the first chart.
Since I moved from a red state to Colorado it’s been mind blowing how painless and accessible it is to vote in this state.
I think that is something we need to stress here: A lot of people in America don’t vote not because they are apathetic but because, well, they often don’t have access because they have to work and can’t get time off, and it doesn’t help that certain states cut and limit the amount of voting places to prevent people from voting.
I remember seeing the images from Georgia in 2020 where there were queues around the block, hell, some fucking states have laws preventing people from offering water for people waiting in line, knowing that people will be waiting in line for a long time. And the fact the places where those polling stations tend to be set up in ways to stop certain demographics from voting is another thing. There’s laws there to prevent students from voting in some states, there’s laws making it hard to vote by mail, you fucking name it.
Meanwhile in the UK, I just had to fill in a PDF form and send it to my local valuation office and I could get a postal vote. No restrictions on who can do this, you can just apply.
in Colorado you don’t even have to apply for a postal vote, it is the default voting mechanism (though in person ballot boxes are also available)
Thats insane, here in Germany voting is always on sunday and (at least in my state, we may have some small time variations in others) I can go vote from 8-18:00, or I could do a postal vote, although I never bothered to do that because its just easier to vote in person, the lines were never really long or even existant at all.
Right now I just have to walk 200m to the next primary school and vote there, its very easy and relaxed.
In New Zealand we have a “voting day” which is a Saturday, but you can vote before the day, there is no restriction. You can vote for a week before the election.
The last two elections, I cast an early vote because it fit better with my schedule.
So fun fact: In the UK, elections and votes are always on a Thursday because it was the furthest day from Saturday (when people went to the pub) and Sunday (when people went to church, this rule was instituted when people were more religious).
Now my local polling place was my local school (which changed with Covid because they didn’t want to interrupt education even more) so when I was a kid when there was an election we always got election day off. :)
Yep! It’s real bad, I had to wait in a line around a building on a Tuesday morning the first election I voted in. One of the big things too is that there are fewer polling centers in the city, and usually more in the suburbs (proportional to the amount of people there).
So while you have a quarter of the eligible voting population in a city go to a single voting center, in the suburbs you have a much smaller group with a less crowded (& usually more convenient) polling area.
Yeah but you see, the suburbs vote for the people in power.
None of my coworkers that want Trump to win are registered to vote. I don’t know if that means anything.
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I’d love to see something like ballot included in tax returns (for folks who don’t otherwise request a ballot). Near-mandatory voting, with abstaining being allowed.
Clearly the office of President should be left vacant.
