The 2024 US presidential election had been widely characterized as one of the most consequential political contests in recent US history. Although turnout was high for a presidential election – almost matching the levels of 2020 – it is estimated that close to 90 million Americans, roughly 36% of the eligible voting age population, did not vote. This number is greater than the number of people who voted for either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris.
More than a month on from polling day, eligible US voters from across the country as well as other parts of the world got in touch with the Guardian to share why they did not vote.
Scores of people said they had not turned out as they felt their vote would not matter because of the electoral college system, since they lived in a safely blue or red state. This included a number of people who nonetheless had voted in the 2020 and 2016 elections.
While various previous Democratic voters said they had abstained this time due to the Harris campaign’s stance on Israel or for other policy reasons, a number of people in this camp said they would have voted for the vice-president had they lived in a swing state.
While various previous Democratic voters said they had abstained this time due to the Harris campaign’s stance on Israel or for other policy reasons, a number of people in this camp said they would have voted for the vice-president had they lived in a swing state.
In a group of absolute morons, this is the only rational stance. It makes sense not to vote if your vote doesn’t matter and by doing so you’re only symbolically supporting a genocide. This is of course very different from voting for Trump because of Gaza (completely irrational) or abstaining in a swing state because of Gaza.
In the USA, How you vote is private. If you voted is public.
I despise humanity’s current timeline. Can it fuck off, please!?
Meteor 2028!
Rejoice!
So wait, if your state wins, the excess votes don’t matter towards the presidential candidate?
Nope, they just go to the popular vote as bragging rights. It’s a stupid system.
i guess it’s similar to our system here in canada, however many ridings the party has dictates their position in the house. its really dumb because some reps might be great people, but the leader is a total dingus. I don’t know what party i am voting for because i have lost faith in all the parties in my county.
The idea that your vote doesn’t count in a strongly red or blue state is total propaganda to get people to not vote and make it so that they don’t have to spend money on campaigning in those places. There are way more people who don’t vote than there are people who voted for either candidate in most places. If everyone voted it could easily overcome any perceived majorities. Especially if city people voted. Problem is that there isnt enough capacity to vote. And cuts to funding that capacity in red states have been a big way to discourage voting in cities. Most people can’t afford to take an entire day off of work to wait in the lines and employers wouldn’t allow it. They’re only required to give 1 hour which is barely enough to get to a poling place and back with no lines. And that isn’t enforced so many don’t even give that hour. And mail in and early voting has been framed by Republicans as unreliable with fake movies and such as propaganda even though it works great in many Blue states.
Pivoting from Biden to Harris guaranteed a Trump victory.
We need a replacement for the democrat party.
Pivoting to Biden in 2020 is what really sank the party in 2024. Covid won 2020 for Biden, but he thought he was something special so in 2024 he desperately clung onto power until his mental decline was too obvious for even party diehards to deny and then the party scrambled to push through Harris who was forced to adopt that bonehead’s general rhetoric. Biden would’ve lost things even harder. The party really fucked itself with Biden, but I’m sure the party thinks it was all worth it to prevent a Bernie victory.
Harris overtook Biden’s polling numbers quite quickly. Also, I find that Biden’s pardoning of the “kids4cash” judge demonstrates some extreme incompetence and tone deafness".
Biden had been showing his age for almost a year before he dropped out. That debate was his last chance to show he wasn’t having a massive mental decline, and he failed. There was no way he could have won against Trump after that.
I actually disagree. I think the debate was blown way out of proportion and most people who would’ve voted for him prior would’ve still voted to him after.
It’s important to acknowledge that there are a lot of liars on the internet. It’s easy to make it appear that a bunch of people jumped ship from biden after the debate when you see waves of trolls saying “yeah, I was gonna vote for Biden but not after that debate!” Meanwhile, they were going to vote for Trump all along.
That said, I still don’t think Biden had a great shot at winning because he doesn’t serve the working class or exploit their emotions.
“What is the point [of voting]?,” he asked. “Aside from a handful of weaponized issues, the parties are nearly identical. They both hate the poor and serve only their donors.”
We can yell at them that the handful of issues should matter enough, or we could actually try to get a popular candidate past the party itself and I to the general.
But shit isn’t going to change until we all admit the DNC isn’t automatically on our side. I’m more hopeful than I should be for the DNC election in February, but I’m ready to be disappointed.
I really wish we had a unified left because there are enough of us to make a serious push to take over the party, but we’re too interested in bickering amongst ourselves
to make a serious push to take over the party
No theres not. This is the effect of the lemmy echo chamber. America is A LOT more conservative than ppl here like to admit. The actual left of the Democratic party are ppl like Bernie and AOC and they’re definitely not celebrated inside the DNC
too interested in bickering amongst ourselves
That’s because three Democratic party is a coalition of liberals and conservatives
We 100% don’t agree on everything, and I don’t know how unified we can be given the number of diverse interests under the umbrella. Feminists don’t have any natural overlap with folks who want to eliminate cars or with atheists. The only unifying goal that makes proponents allies is opposing conservatives.
You’ve got black folks who are going to live their entire lives oppressed by systemic racism being told to just go along with getting rights excruciatingly slowly and trust their grandkids will have it great.
I’m afraid as much sense as your point makes, it isn’t realistic.
Surprised not to see some self-unaware someone arguing that this position is somehow too far to the right or something
Problem is that leftists like money, too, and aren’t afraid to exploit others in order to get it.
The person in the quote is a big indicator that schools are failing to teach civics properly, and people don’t understand what voting is (locally, state, or federally.) Also, they are a fucking idiot.
He’s referring to the illusion of choice.
Your comment is textbook irony.
“It doesn’t matter” (and they’re right) is always going to be the number one answer. Very few states actually have meaningful voting rights with respect to the presidential election. Lower races are sometimes more meaningful, but even then they’re frequently forgone conclusions. The only votes I had that weren’t a forgone conclusion was some municipal ballot measures.
And yet doing something is better than doing nothing. Everyone can’t just assume that everyone else will do the right thing.
The whole reason theyre foregone conclusions is because people stay home. Someone link the map that shows non voters win most of the country.
No, they aren’t. I know my local community. We’re a blue state and going to vote blue. Just because someone is a non-voter doesn’t mean they have radically different political beliefs than the rest of their community. They’re usually listening to the same broadcasts, having the same social networks, and growing up with the same pervasive political biases. Some will diverge from the norm, but by and large non-voters simply don’t care enough to form a new political opinion. For every besieged opposition voter with learned helplessness there are ten who if they were forced to make a decision will just reference the general prevailing opinion.
And yet everyone here bitches that the dems aren’t left enough, etc. Imagine if non voters got off their asses and actually voted in the primaries.
I don’t buy that nothing would change. Don’t buy that at all.
Have you actually tried to talk to your non-voting friends about politics? An avidly political friend’s boyfriend, when encouraged to register and be ready to vote, wanted to vote for a shitty Republican because his name sounded cool. Even the ones who aren’t just outright dumb like this actively just avoid taking any position because they don’t know what the politics are and don’t want the responsibility of trying to learn. They default to very generally held sentiments and try to pick a name they’ve heard of before. They’re not the sleeping activists you’re dreaming of.
Im not saying theyre activists. I have and generally theyre uninterested (obviously) but would learn if they took the time to actually vote. That or their opinions line up with more left of center things but they aren’t represented by that because they don’t vote. (The experience is probably different given you live in a blue area and I in a purple one.)
Even if they don’t, they should vote regardless. It’s a civic duty.
I live in a blue state but that doesn’t mean I’d be justified in believing that I should sit it out. Even if that insane logic about not needing to was valid, there’s other shit on the ballot. And even if my vote for or abstaining against an uncontested incumbent is irrelevant, there’s still ballot measures that need to be understood.
I blame my peers who didn’t vote just as much as my peers who voted for Trump for what is to come.
I’m done giving a shit. We had a chance to stop this, and we sat on our ass.
I blame everyone who hasn’t learned from 2016 that expecting voters to “fall in line” is not a winning strategy.
Unfortunately, you’re showing us that you still haven’t learned from your mistakes so I expect more conservative victories in the future.
Anything to avoid helping out poor people at the expense of the rich, right?
Did they interview anyone in a swing state at all, or just people who lived in solid states and suggested that if they lived in a swing state they’d have voted?
The only reasons they gave were Israel and gesture vaguely in the direction of other policies.
Did these non-voters not consider the downballot candidates that dems also lost their asses on?
I didn’t find Harris compelling, just more of the same.
Well you’re sure not going to get more of the same now. Good job, shithead.
the problem is, we still gotta beat Trump.
I dont think anyone knows if actual leftist messages will actually work, but holy shit it’s gotta be better than diet, no caffeine, low sodium fun size Bill Clinton Zero.
Well when you get Biden pardoning a judge who literally took bribes to send kids to jail to benefit a for profit jail, I’d question how compelling the Democrats are.
Instead of voting 3rd party and trying to change things, many Americans seems to be locked in a pointless argument over which party is the least shit.
Yeah fuck Biden for doing that, but try to stay on topic
Fortunately Biden wasn’t on the ballot
No, but “i wont be fundentally different from Biden” Harris was.
Maybe you shouldn’t worry about them being compelling when the alternative was fascism.
How are you still arguing this?
Because it is all a lie to cover up the truth. They want everyone to think of them as righteous, good, and caring. Hell, they want to think of themselves that way. But deep down they know it’s not quite true. There’s something they hate that is more important than what happens to anyone else, and even to themselves. I suspect that for a lot of them it’s extreme sexism… Sure, they are all for a female president. As long as she is perfect. Says everything perfect, does everything perfect, and it would really help if she had a penis too. Or maybe they didn’t want an Indian or another black person… Whatever it was it was more important than their so called support for the Palestinians, support for the Ukrains, hate of fascists and Nazis, ect ect…
Whatever it was, the blood of the Palestinians, Ukrains, is a small price to pay… But whatever it is, it’s heinous and they know it. So, rather than admit to everyone, and even more importantly themselves, what they know is truly disgusting, they pretend that it was something that makes no sense. “She didn’t explain her policies, we didn’t like her policies on something even though her opponents were 100 times worse…”
It’s a smoke screen for the truth. Intellectual Dishonesty. They are lying to us and themselves.
At least the maga crowd has the guts to admit their hate. They come straight out and let you know that they are fine with the world burning as long as whatever they hate burns with it.Well then I guess you’ve gotten what you wanted. Enjoy the Trump administration and the all new domestic genocides.
Not all the people who didn’t vote for Harris are Trump supporters; there are a lot of leftists and progressives who believe that they can’t survive any more late-stage capitalism. They recognize that the only peaceful chance to stop the wealthiest 1% from ruling is to stop electing them and stop electing the people who are bought by them.
Corporate democrats are better on certain social issues but they’ll still put wealth over people, and they’ll never move left. It’s why we have the cruel health system we have today. It’s why the banks got bailed out and never got regulated. It’s why the Digital Millennium Copyright Act passed. Heck, 81 Congressional house democrats just voted for a military spending bill that denies medical care to trans kids.
Kamala Harris is a corporate democrat.
And like I told the person before you, she lost so you got what you wanted. Enjoy the fascism and the genocides.
I actually voted both third party and for Harris, so maybe don’t assume you know how people voted or what they want.
I’m not the guy you were responding to. I responded to your question about how he could still be arguing such an illogical argument.
And to reiterate, his entire argument is a lie. It’s a smoke screen to hide the real reason he didn’t want to vote for a woman, or a brown person, or whatever his hang-up is.Sorry, I agree with you.
How you still did not understand that this way of arguing won’t change anyone’s mind?
“Choose between slow sleepwalk to fascism or this rapid honest one”.
I can’t fathom why people put all the blame on the voters. Dems could a and should have done more. Harris got billion dollars for her campaign!
Biden pardoning his son is understandable, but a giant Fuck You to everyone else. He got his, now the rest will live with consequences.
DNC has fucked the USA again and again. How about some blame there.
Why would I care about changing anyone’s mind at this point? America is going to be a fascist dictatorship. Any sort of semblance of a free and fair election are over.
By understanding the problem potential solutions may emerge.
Doomerism helps the owner class, they need you to feel helpless and isolated. Don’t let them win.
Do you know nothing about Project 2025? You’ve had a long time to learn about it. The whole point is to keep Republicans in power perpetually and remove any need for legitimate elections.
And you think you can vote your way out of that?
(By the way, I love how you’ve gone from “this sort of arguing won’t change anyone’s mind” to “why aren’t you trying to change people’s minds?!?!”)
Re:btw what do you mean? It’s the same thing: you should be trying to change people’s minds, and be better at that, and I’m bringing your attention to it. You are a prolific poster all over the fediverse, so you can have a big impact on people. And I think you are aware of it.
I’ve known about the P25 for a long time, I’m well aware of its consequences. Burying our heads and losing our hope is the only way they can get away with it.
Kings have fallen, and we all should do our best to not create them again. That includes understanding those who voted for them. Ignoring the problem or its root cause won’t change anything.
I keep repeating this line in my head:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
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I can’t fathom why people put all the blame on the voters
Unreal.
Most voters don’t have luxuries of having time or education to make deep dives into issues, and are swayed by some nonsense.
And think what you like, it’s usually not something they choose voluntarily or consciously.
I can’t fathom how people point out how ‘pulling yourselves up by the bootstraps’ is BS, and then they point to tired, underpaid, health issue ridden public and say: “you should know not to vote for this!!1!”.
Then Harris panders to the right and the same people don’t understand how she could lose. Really?
AOCs voters said they are tired of the status quo. Something we all know and understand. And we know the DNC will never let go of the status quo. Where does this lead to?
Most voters don’t have luxuries of having time or education to make deep dives into issues, and are swayed by some nonsense.
Arguably most voters wouldn’t have needed to take a deep dive into issues to see Trump was the worse option, a shallow one at most. A swim would’ve been enough, really.
AOC’s voters said all sorts of insane, idiotic shit, when she asked why they voted for her but also Trump.
It was trivially easy, and took very little time, to inform yourself about the two options. There is no excuse. People need to take responsibility for their decisions, and blaming everyone but themselves is just copium.
Those are the people you have to convince to vote, that’s all.
If you keep ignoring them, nothing will change.
This attitude is what brought the results. Ignoring masses to pander to billionaires is not going to win democrats anything. Pointing fingers to other side and announcing ‘we are better than them’ worked only once.
If it doesn’t change a person’s mind, it’s because they don’t understand it.
Good job, shithead.
Yeah, keep blaming the people “not falling in line” instead of just running a candidate that supports them.
That’s how we got 2 Trump presidencies and people like you still haven’t learned from it.
If anything, this should teach people like you that expecting people to “fall in line” no longer works and you should support different tactics to prevent further conservative blowouts.
I don’t think people like you are capable of learning from this, though. You’re just going to get angrier and keep repeating the same mistakes expecting different results.
You’re right. I do blame people for “not falling in line” and letting a genocidal fascist dictator who made no secret of that gain control of a nation because they didn’t find the opposition “compelling.”
And as far from not having learned, I think what you haven’t learned is that 2024 was the last real election in the U.S. in your lifetime.
Harris lost. You got what you wanted. Be happy about it.
Yeah, you’re delusional and incapable of arguing in good faith.
And yet I did not insult you.
And if you think I’m delusional about what Trump is going to do, you’re in for a very rude awakening.
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Yeah. You’re too distracted by the other guy being the antichrist to focus on how democrats would rather have trump than a progressive in office.
Until that culture changes, we shouldn’t expect our government to change.
Clearly you’re doing your part in making sure things stay exactly the same, while somehow expecting different results.
I think there’s a word for that, but I digress.
You’re right. I’m “too distracted” by the fascist dictatorship to play what if.
What part should I be doing? Insulting people on the internet? What else are you doing?
I cannot in good conscience vote for the two party system anymore. A trillion dollars went into the coffers of both sides to market “old” to the people. That money wants returns and it often means Bill riders that make billionaires richer at the sacrifice of us.
Until the people realize this and vote other parties instead of Democrat or Republican, I’m out.
If you’re serious about ending the terrible two party system (which is really one party and a cult), you’d vote for the one party, the democrats, and crack fucking skulls trying to get ranked choice or similar passed.
First past the post guarantees third parties can never exist, mathematically. Voting third party under first past the post is supporting the two party system.
Not really. You’re delusional if you think supporting establishment democrats will change the two party system.
Both parties exist to distract us from rich people getting richer at our expense, and they’re both very successful.
And you’re delusional if you think not voting will change the two party system. At least by voting for the democrats (in this case), you’d try to prevent a lot of the bad things that Trump promised and that will hurt the less privileged part of the population.
There needs to be a cultural change for change to happen.
Until that cultural shift occurs, voting really is just a waste of time.
Although you would have a point if more people were actually interested in solving problems facing the working class. Too many of them are divided on gridlock issues that exist to distract them from how they’re being exploited.
So you really don’t find Trump any worse than Harris?
You’re part of the problem.
For future reference, when people stop answering this question it’s because they see it for the distraction that it is.
When that day comes, hopefully you can realize how far behind you are and work extra hard to catch up!
Nah, it’s likely because they’re in denial that not voting against Trump is what helped him get elected.
It’s funny when people think they’re solving the problem by doing nothing. If you think Trump is a problem, then by not voting against him, you are part of the problem.
Unless your district is so overwhelming Democrat that your vote wouldn’t matter, you helped elect Trump.
What if we make not voting an official vote and, if it wins, all the parties have to try again with new candidates?
Why not. Maybe I would cap it at some number of elections.
Yeah, we don’t want to have a politician de facto in power because no one else better comes along and/or no one still wants to vote.
Lol this was a 1:1 repeat of 2016.
I voted and sat back as the Dems threw away their election by willingly ignoring their constituents in exchange for AIPAC money.
the only conclusion is this is the model for both parties into the foreseeable future.
