This is based on 43 states being considered “non-negotiable” and “set in stone” while only 7 are considered “swing” states

Also consider I specified “voters”, who are at best only 2/3 of the total population, which leaves out about 100 million extra people

  • Zyratoxx
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    7 months ago

    That 🦅 moment when you are competing with Malta and Israel on the “democracy index” (Malta 28th, US 29th, Israel 30th) and they call you a “flawed democracy”

    Some fun facts:

    • On the points “functioning of government” and “political culture” the US is competing with Hungary

    • The US has a worse score in “electoral process and pluralism” than for example Poland, Malaysia, Panama and Brazil

    • Besides Hungary, Eritrea and Uganda have a better score in “political culture” than the US

    But ngl, people who think that the US is a perfect example of a democracy probably also think that the US is a keeper of peace for striking civilian targets in Iraq.

  • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
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    177 months ago

    Third largest country on earth, by the way. You have to go to India or China if you wanted to disenfranchise more of an electorate. But we spread democracy! Or something!

  • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
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    197 months ago

    I feel obligated to point out once again that of eligible US overseas citizens, the turnout rate in 2022 was like 3.4% – and as I’ve said before, when you have a demographic of nearly 3 million people with turnout rates that abysmal, what you call that is a sham election.

    Not that the sham nature of US elections was ever under question, the country’s famously land-based election system is after all located on stolen land.

    • foxontherocks [undecided, undecided]
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      177 months ago

      I’m an overseas American and I am not voting because it would be a bizarre waste of time. Not only would I be voting by mail in a solidly blue state but if votes by mail ever determined an election there would be a coup.

      • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
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        47 months ago

        That is what I’m saying, that if any substantial number of overseas Americans actually did exercise their “right” to vote in a way that impacted the results of an election in any meaningful way, that the entire facade of democracy would just immediately come crashing down, as the powers-that-be would just make up some shit about “foreign votes by mail” being a form of election fraud, and commit a coup. History proves time and time again that the moment average people actually manage to “hack” the electoral game, the game just gets thrown right out the window, right?

        I’m also an overseas American with ties to a blue state, and I was going back and forth on whether I should vote at all, but I’ve resolved that I’m going to vote in this election for Claudia and Karina. I’m not expecting to change the results of the election at all, and to that extent it is a “waste of time”; but it will at least give the PSL a little more visibility, and it might be good for agitprop to say that I voted.

  • PorkrollPosadist [he/him, they/them]M
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    7 months ago

    We managed to “escape” the drama of primary elections this year, but the whole primary campaign trail, where the first 5-10 states decide who the candidate is is also a absolute fucking farce. For the Democrats, half of these states aren’t even going to yield a single democrat elector, but we still let them choose the candidate. South Carolina sealed the deal that we were Riding with Biden. How did they vote in the General? The whole thing is a fucking shell game.

    If you want the process to be democratic, all of these elections should occur simultaneously. And if they don’t, any state which failed to yield electors in the previous two elections should go dead fucking last.

      • ZWQbpkzl [none/use name]
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        57 months ago

        Every state Democratic party should be pursue their own national political interest and move their primary date up to be tied with the first. Its absurd that you’d just let your states political interest be moot.

      • PorkrollPosadist [he/him, they/them]M
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        7 months ago

        And then you have the “caucuses.” Secret ballots? Naa. How about you go personally stand in a specific corner of a public school gymnasium in front of news cameras (and make it a several hour ordeal instead of punching a box and leaving).

  • DragonBallZinn [he/him]
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    577 months ago

    smug-explain: “Sure, we COULD abolish the electoral college so every American has a stake in the election and just do ranked choice voting instead, but that would hurt the GOP and WE CAN’T HAVE THAT!”

  • Nakoichi [they/them]M
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    257 months ago

    It’s even lower than that because those 43 states include the most populated states in the country.

  • EstraDoll [she/her, he/him]
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    247 months ago

    and even among people in those states, it all falls down to a few million at best credulous dipshits who could go either way. Most people will vote one way and will not flip no matter what

    • ClimateChangeAnxiety [he/him, they/them]
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      207 months ago

      It’s really more about the people who will either vote for you or not vote and getting them to actually vote. “Swing voters” are like 6 guys, 5 of who are in solidly red states where it won’t matter anyway.

  • Stolen_Stolen_Valor [any]
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    7 months ago

    Every single aspect of voting in this country is a system of hedging bets. It is a tangled mess of yarn, fishing line, cables, and hair. Unfucking a single piece of it wouldn’t fix it, nor is anyone even willing to try. The system cannot correct itself and voting is a useless waste of time. The only way to “Save Democracy” would be to burn it all down and go again.