# Should I vote in California or Michigan? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840 "2010-10-11T23:34:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/1 "2010-10-11T23:34:16Z")
So, I am registered to vote in Michigan, where I’ve spent the last two years. Michigan is completely fucked up. However, due to personal circumstances, I am currently crashing with my parents in California. California is also completely fucked up. I haven’t lived in California in eight years, but I did grow up here. So while I am not super familiar with the current candidates and issues, I have a better general idea of what is happening than I do in Michigan, where the reverse is true, because I was only there to go to grad school and don’t have any permanent ties or roots in the state. But I know more about what’s happening at the moment there than I do in California. Where, Dopers, should I vote? I need to make a decision pretty quickly because the last day to register to vote in California is October 18 and if I want to vote absentee in Michigan, I need to get on the ball. For the record, it is unlikely that I will be living in either state in the long term. ETA: Also, both districts are deeply blue and neither (Democratic) incumbent is likely to lose. ---
**Author:** ![AmunRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AmunRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmunRa)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/2 "2010-10-12T00:38:30Z")
Well if you vote in California you can vote on Prop 19, and the California Governor and Senate races are pretty close, although it does look like both are leaning somewhat toward the Democrats now. Don’t know anything about Michigan, but California definitely has some very divisive races going on. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/3 "2010-10-12T12:58:36Z")
The third option is don’t vote. Except in Florida in 2000, your single vote is statistically meaningless. If you’re one of those people who don’t understand math, though, and insist that every vote is important, then what state is most important to you? It sounds like you were only a student in Michigan, but have real roots in California. I’ve always voted in Michigan, even when living in Germany, Texas, Ontario, and now Mexico, because that’s where my roots are, where I pay taxes, and where I own my home. And yes, I do vote (generally at least twice per year), despite understanding the math. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/4 "2010-10-12T15:16:29Z")
California. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/5 "2010-10-12T15:20:08Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > The third option is don’t vote. Except in Florida in 2000, your single vote is statistically meaningless. Part of why I don’t vote. And get a rash-o-shit from people about it but it is so hard to care – especially after witnessing last year’s overturn of the Gay Marriage thing by the religious right. If I see that Money CAN buy an election, why should I bother? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/6 "2010-10-12T15:48:52Z")
Vote in both places 🙂 You should register in California, even if you don’t vote there. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/7 "2010-10-12T16:47:12Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > The third option is don’t vote. Except in Florida in 2000, your single vote is statistically meaningless. When you say that your vote is meaningless, how can you be so sure that “Florida 2000” won’t happen again? To the OP: I don’t know anything about US voting, but when I was spending the majority of the year at University, I still voted in my distant hometown, because I felt that was more likely to affect me (if a vote affects anything at all). Also, **AmunRa** gives some good reasons for voting in California (unless similar issues are also being voted on in Michigan). ---
**Author:** ![rayman5321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rayman5321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayman5321)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/8 "2010-10-12T17:37:33Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > So, I am registered to vote in Michigan, where I’ve spent the last two years. Michigan is completely fucked up. > > However, due to personal circumstances, I am currently crashing with my parents in California. California is also completely fucked up. > > I haven’t lived in California in eight years, but I did grow up here. So while I am not super familiar with the current candidates and issues, I have a better general idea of what is happening than I do in Michigan, where the reverse is true, because I was only there to go to grad school and don’t have any permanent ties or roots in the state. But I know more about what’s happening at the moment there than I do in California. > > Where, Dopers, should I vote? I need to make a decision pretty quickly because the last day to register to vote in California is October 18 and if I want to vote absentee in Michigan, I need to get on the ball. > > For the record, it is unlikely that I will be living in either state in the long term. > > ETA: Also, both districts are deeply blue and neither (Democratic) incumbent is likely to lose. Move to Chicago where you can vote early and vote often. I take offense as a native Michiganian. California is way more fucked up! ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/9 "2010-10-12T17:44:46Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > I don’t vote. … it is so hard to care – especially after witnessing last year’s overturn of the Gay Marriage thing Ooh, the irony, how it stings! ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/10 "2010-10-12T17:52:55Z")
Tell us what you’d be voting for and we’ll tell you which state to do it in 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/11 "2010-10-12T18:04:09Z")
I assume Dingell is your congressman (you’re in AA, right?)? He needs your vote. Recent polls have Steele up by 4%. ETA: Well, I guess that’s assuming you’re a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![AmunRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AmunRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmunRa)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/12 "2010-10-12T18:20:05Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > If I see that Money CAN buy an election, why should I bother? Tell that to Meg Whitman. She has set new records for spending on the governor’s race, and she is still trailing Brown by an average of 6.2 points. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/13 "2010-10-12T18:56:31Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > > [@Balthisar](#): > > > > The third option is don’t vote. Except in Florida in 2000, your single vote is statistically meaningless. > > When you say that your vote is meaningless, how can you be so sure that “Florida 2000” won’t happen again? Well, even in Florida 2000, a single person’s vote was slightly more statistically important, but the outcome was still not governed by a single vote, and so even in the case of a repeat close campaign, it’s statistically very highly improbable (some people would say “statistically impossible”) that a single vote will affect the outcome. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/14 "2010-10-13T02:26:52Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Well, even in Florida 2000, a single person’s vote was slightly more statistically important, but the outcome was still not governed by a single vote, and so even in the case of a repeat close campaign, it’s statistically very highly improbable (some people would say “statistically impossible”) that a single vote will affect the outcome. Of course, but far more people don’t vote than do. If everyone who doesn’t vote DID vote, then not only would they affect the outcome, they’d single handedly control the outcome of every election. The point is that maybe **Kyla** ’s vote won’t matter, but Kyla + 20,000 people like Kyla COULD effect the outcome. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/15 "2010-10-13T12:23:27Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > Of course, but far more people don’t vote than do. If everyone who doesn’t vote DID vote, then not only would they affect the outcome, they’d single handedly control the outcome of every election. Only if you assume that they’d all vote the same way. > [@](#): > > The point is that maybe **Kyla** ’s vote won’t matter, but Kyla + 20,000 people like Kyla COULD effect the outcome. Sure, it _could_, but there’s not statistical relevance in “could”; only in the things that actually “are.” ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/16 "2010-10-13T12:30:43Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I assume Dingell is your congressman (you’re in AA, right?)? He needs your vote. Recent polls have Steele up by 4%. > ETA: Well, I guess that’s assuming you’re a Democrat. I am a liberal independent. I tend to vote for Democrats because there usually aren’t any better options, but I don’t want to call myself a Democrat because the party as a whole pisses me off by being so milquetoast all the time. Anyway, Dingell is my Congressman in Michigan. If I registered in California, my Congresswoman would be Lynn Woolsey (D). This is probably one of the most liberal districts in the country. (It covers a hunk of the North Bay, including all of Marin County and the southern part of Sonoma County.) There’s no way she’s going to lose. **rayman5321** , I used to live in Chicago, and I was diligent in only voting once! My congressman was Rahm Emanuel, btw. I voted for him because I was mildly afraid of what would happen if I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/17 "2010-10-13T13:33:49Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > The third option is don’t vote. Except in Florida in 2000, your single vote is statistically meaningless. You could say that to everyone, so why not just let the corporations vote, seeing as how they’re now legally permitted to buy our elections anyway? What’s the point of individuals voting really? My advice is to vote in the elections in which you are most informed. Or _get_ informed in the election in which you choose to vote. Just don’t vote for the expected outcome because you like the color of the candidate’s party\*. That, IMHO, is truly meaningless. \*Not suggesting that you would, but I passed a campaign sign last night that read simply, “Vote Republican.” Yeah, voter, don’t even concern yourself with the actual candidate. I want to post a sign next to it that reads, “I am not a crook.” ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/18 "2010-10-13T14:34:02Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > > [@Balthisar](#): > > > > The third option is don’t vote. Except in Florida in 2000, your single vote is statistically meaningless. > > You could say that to everyone, so why not just let the corporations vote, seeing as how they’re now legally permitted to buy our elections anyway? What’s the point of individuals voting really? Free speech trumps stupid people any day of the week. If stupid people want to be influenced by the ability of corporations (and PAC’s) to spend advertising dollars (not “buy elections”), then it’s the stupid peoples’ fault; that’s not a “bought election.” I admit, though, that I’m having trouble understanding how the statistical insignificance of a single voters’ vote would lead to allowing a corporation to vote. > [@](#): > > My advice is to vote in the elections in which you are most informed. Or _get_ informed in the election in which you choose to vote. Just don’t vote for the expected outcome because you like the color of the candidate’s party\*. That, IMHO, is truly meaningless. This is good advice, and if everyone did this, there would be no stupid people around and the perception that elections could be bought would disappear, regardless of how much money were spent. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/19 "2010-10-13T19:42:54Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > > > I assume Dingell is your congressman (you’re in AA, right?)? He needs your vote. Recent polls have Steele up by 4%. > > ETA: Well, I guess that’s assuming you’re a Democrat. > > I am a liberal independent. I tend to vote for Democrats because there usually aren’t any better options, but I don’t want to call myself a Democrat because the party as a whole pisses me off by being so milquetoast all the time. > > Anyway, Dingell is my Congressman in Michigan. If I registered in California, my Congresswoman would be Lynn Woolsey (D). This is probably one of the most liberal districts in the country. (It covers a hunk of the North Bay, including all of Marin County and the southern part of Sonoma County.) There’s no way she’s going to lose. Anyway, it turns out Dingell probably isn’t really down by four points. That was a bum poll. Chances are, he’s pretty safe. 538 gives him only a 1% chance of losing to Steele. Honestly, your vote could probably make the most difference in Cali. The MI’s gov race isn’t even a race anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840/20 "2010-10-13T22:08:55Z")
Both! Vote Early, And Vote Often! 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-vote-in-california-or-michigan/556840.md?page=2)