I was thinking the same exact thing.
First of all, that’s not one vote, that’s many votes. Notice how, in order to justify “one vote matters,” you have to immediately jettison the “one vote” part.
Second of all, no, it doesn’t make a difference. Without those people voting, it’s 6,400 for the Democrat and 7,200 for the Republican. With 1000 “voting doesn’t matter” people being whipped until they go to the polls, it’s 6,900 blue - 7,700 Red, and the Pub still wins, still goes to Washington, and still votes for whatever his party boss tells him to.
Why do all the “your vote matters” folks seem to think everyone sitting at home is on the same team?
Reminds me of a song from the Daily show
Just remember
this November
that your vote will count
a very very very very very small amount
Non-voters tend to lean left. That’s why liberals try to get as many people as possible to vote and conservatives try to make it as hard as possible.
Do you have a cite for that?
i honestly don’t see how these are helped by a single vote that will have absolutely no effect on the outcome. Even if it did, that’s fine and great that “improving” those aspects is worth more to you than the costs. Still a personal decision and not more “right” than someone who comes tot the conclusion it’s not worth the bother.
Non-voters tend to be younger, poorer, and more ethnically diverse, all groups that tend to align with the Democrats. About 50% of nonvoters lean Democrat but only 30% of them lean Republican, while the regular voting population is split more like 50%/45%. So, assuming the swing in the middle splits evenly, an increase in voter participation will tend to move the needle to the left.
If everyone voted, the Democrats would win more elections. Which is why the Republicans try to make sure as few people vote as possible.
I can sort of see what he’s getting at with #1 in particular.
I mean, there are things I dislike extremely about both parties’ platforms and things I dislike extremely about individual candidates from either party. Often, it feels like I ought to make a huge matrix and assign scores to each question/issue, and calculate who I should vote for based on that.
Read his response- he’s not talking about voter ID, he’s talking about having to have an ID in order to register to vote. AFAIK, that’s required in all 50 states , even in motor-voter states. It’s not reasonable to expect someone to just register to vote without some form of ID, and some form of ID is also required to get a driver’s license. I do agree that a voter registration card ought to be enough to actually cast a vote however.
And where are the polling places a 3 hour ride away by public transit? Everywhere that I’ve ever lived have had the polling places no more than half a mile away, and that’s on the extreme side. Most of them used a local school or church within walking distance for everyone registered to that polling place.
When you do not vote, you hand the last piece of control over your own life to somebody else.
Randomly.
Vote.
Hell, run for local office.
Is “right” even a meaningful term in your lexicon?
I’m not voting either, so, my non-vote cancels out your non-vote.
Wrong. If everybody voted by party affiliation and voter registration rolls, as of today, the Democrats would win. Sometimes, a clown candidate (witness Jimmy Carter) would cause a defection from his party, and the Democrats would lose.