There is literally 0 chance the area I live in will be blue. Does me going out and voting actually do anything besides add to the popular vote tally?
Vote. You don’t have to vote for Biden or Trump, you can write in a vote or choose a third party or independent candidate on the ballot, if your State allows it. Not for the reason of making practical change, because it won’t in a two party system, but to show the analytics, media, the ruling power that you don’t have to vote for the lesser of two evils. Anyone that says otherwise does not know what democracy means and supports a broken system through enabling. Local votes ate more important IMO, always vote for that. The more informed you are, the less likely you are to support a broken system.
Always vote, no matter what. If everyone who said it doesn’t matter voted your red state might turn blue or at very least purple. Even if it still stays red it will be a sign that people are rejecting Republicans and could force change. Plus lots of races aren’t just for president and are local things which can be won with less then 1000 votes in many places so vote every time always.
Hello… hello… hello…
Welcome to the shit-lib Ecco chamber.
The two-party system is a fucking joke. Voting for Rethuglicans is fascist bootlicking. Voting for Democrats is just rainbow-colored fascism. Both sides just virtue signal to their base about identity politics, but change nothing fundamentally that will anger the true masters: the oligarchs who really run shit.
I bet you’re fun at parties.
Every vote for Biden in Steubenville is another vote that somebody in Cleveland doesn’t have to counter, so yes, vote.
The electrical vote is state by state (with two states, Maine and Nebraska divying all but two of those votes one per congressional district), so your vote in a swing state matters.
I live in Nebraska and I feel the same way. I go out and vote in every election because that’s my civic duty, if the majority of people in your area with our same feeling actually went out and vote it is possible to become a swing state.
That being said my personal opinion is if you don’t vote you forfeit your right to complain about politics. You didn’t voice your opinion when it was important, so you shouldn’t voice it when it’s not.
Edit: spelling
Same! I’m in a red state but I have voted in every election since I reached the age to vote (a looong time ago). Yeah, my state always goes red for POTUS but I still vote Dem for POTUS so we don’t look like we’re a total shithole state. We have a Dem governor, a Dem House rep in DC, and my personal State senator and rep are Dems, too–I helped put them there. Dems are still quite outnumbered in the State legislature, but there’s been enough of them to keep the repubs from overriding the governor’s veto of some of their fascist bullshit bills. Every bit helps.
Yes it absolutely makes a difference. Also make sure you are voting in all elections, local elections are just as important as the national elections.
Your vote will factor in to how the EC vote goes for Ohio regardless of what Reps get the vote in your district.
Locally, I suppose even if there is no chance for your district to swing blue, a large showing might have a positive effect getting local Repubs to chill on the fascism. Like maybe get a hint that Ohio residents don’t want restrictions on their ballot initiatives.
Absolutely. Voting in federal, state, and local elections makes big differences. I’ve lived in red and blue states, and my votes have personally swayed policy for red and blue states. Some of the stuff I voted for passed on margins as slim as 1,200 votes, in a city of hundreds of thousands of people (guess how many of them voted?)
As a direct result of me voting, my life dramatically improved because my cut bus lines were restored, the feds rebuilt parts of my city, and people were no longer getting arrested on bullshit charges.
Further civic action saved one local park from redevelopment.
So few people actually vote, even fewer with bad takes. So voting can have a profound impact on your life and other’s lives. Some of my friends got the right to marry. Some others lost their ability to access healthcare and were forced to move states to access it again. It makes a difference.
This doesn’t end with Americans either. You guys worldwide have had a number of extremely close elections, see the list below. Do your civic duty and vote! It can take an hour or less with a bit of research, and has a surprisingly big impact on your life.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_close_election_results
Great list!
Let me highlight the 1988 Massachusetts democratic primary:
Herbert L. Connolly lost to Robert B. Kennedy by one vote, and it was his own. Connolly arrived at his precinct a few minutes after the polls closed and wasn’t able to vote. Kennedy won the following general.[74][75]
I used to live in a red state and would get discouraged but I voted anyway. Don’t think about and go vote because it’s better than being apathetic and doing nothing like most of the country does.
Ohio is purple too though. It can go both ways as generations shift.
The popular vote tally is what matters on a state level. 48 states (Ohio included) use a state-wide popular vote and award all their electoral votes to the winner of a plurality (highest percentage even if no one gets more than 50%) in that vote.
Please always vote. Ohio isn’t so deeply red that it’s completely hopeless yet
As long as you have a valid ID and registered voter… yep <3
just under 50% of people voted in Ohio in the 2020 election.
Trump won by 8%.
If just 9% of the people who felt like you (what’s the point of voting) had showed up to vote for Biden, that would have flipped the state.
No single raindrop believes it can make any difference. But together, all those insignificant raindrops can change the course of a river in a single day.
This is EXACTLY what was in my head as I wrote the post.
I wish I could nominate your comment to be pinned to the top of responses. Alas, all I have is a single upvote; but you have it.
Each of us upvoted, making this the top comment in the thread. I voted to make a difference.
Team effort. And that’s how we win.
And my ax!
And my Stapler!
If, and it’s a big IF, the electronic voting system software is legit.
So easy to do. Or, used to be.
Yes! Downballot offices usually have a greater effect on your life than higher ones, in fact.
And I guarantee you that if every voter who thought their vote didn’t count went out and voted, they damn well would count. The turnout last election was 46% of elligible voters. 46%! Half of us who could vote, didn’t! 53% is enough to swing any state.
deleted by creator
