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?
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.
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!
This is EXACTLY what was in my head as I wrote the post.
If, and it’s a big IF, the electronic voting system software is legit.
So easy to do. Or, used to be.
Remember that the president isn’t the only thing on the ballot.
Don’t give up on fighting fascism from your school board up to your state reps. If you organize/join existing groups, you can make your voice heard.
Your vote is sending a signal to future elections. If Ohio has a 20-point red margin, it’s unlikely to get any attention from blue candidates. If it has a 5% margin, that changes, and suddenly the next campaign considers spending time & money to try and move the needle.
Remember the old Roman adage: “you’re not defeated until you admit defeat”. If you don’t vote: you’ve lost. If you vote, you might still lose that election but there’s a better chance to win in the future.
Berthold Brecht:
Anyone who stays at home when the war begins and lets others fight for their cause must be careful: because whoever did not share the fight will share the defeat.
Always vote. Progressives lose elections because 30% of any population votes for the conservative at every single election, no matter what, like it’s a religion. Progressives need a culture that says: ALWAYS VOTE. It doesn’t fucking matter if it doesn’t fucking matter. Vote anyway. Let your kids see you voting like it’s actually important. Make it important.
One of the best comments I’ve seen here. Kudos
Yes because there are more options than just president, and increasing voter turnout is always advantageous to the left. There are more Democrats than Republicans in America, so 100% voter turnout means no more fascists in office.
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.
Deep red Ohio here
Still voting.
Fite me, redcoats
The more deeply and unanimously red your local lawmakers consider their electorate, the more confident they will be pushing right and far right legislation and building MAGA cultishness. It won’t change who’s elected, but it can change how your local lawmakers think about what their community wants.
Yes! It’s the total votes statewide that determines the winner (POTUS and Senator), no matter which areas of the state they come from. Besides that, a showing of more blue votes in red areas makes a bigger statement to powers-that-be, campaign analysts, etc. than blue votes in blue areas. Represent!
And as everyone else is saying, vote blue for every office on the ballot. The state, county, and city levels are just as important as the national level if not more so. Vote in every election no matter what, even if no one you voted for wins, it matters how close the races are so Dems know where to concentrate their efforts.
Vote. Try to get others to do the same.
Maybe Democrats don’t stand a chance this round, but put up a fight. And if Trump loses you might get a chance to vote again in four years - a higher turnout to Democrats in this round might make it seem less hopeless at the next crossroads. :)
It’ll stay red if people don’t vote
For president?
Probably not.
But it might for down ballot races which are still important.
Like in 08 when Obama first ran. Dems made lots of gains in state governments because he drove turnout.
Getting you to feel like your vote is meaningless is how they win.
Elections aren’t just about the President. That’s arguably the least impactful person on the ballot. Look at your local reps running for state positions, find ones you like, they’ll have much more impact on your daily life.
Plus, it’s a good opportunity to pay a little closer attention to local politics. My town is getting pretty hot the last few years, with some major controversies
- siting for a new high school, with hundreds of millions in state and federal funding at stake, and a huge impact on the community for the next half century. They’re racing to open it in time for the coming school year, but the site is still controversial
- summer closure to vehicles of the shops and restaurant area was a huge hit during COViD period, but now some people want to “go back to normal”
- huge arguments for and against our strong mayor able to get things done
- the town bought contaminated land for Pennies but trying to figure out what to do with it means figuring out how to clean it up
- we have a great sports facility with a large number of astroturfed fields but “the carpet is scuffed and worn”. Can we afford to get it re-carpeted? Is there an advantage to going back to grass?
- were having a lot of population growth and want to encourage higher density housing in the center of town near shops and transit, but how much can/should we try to control that? A neighborhood near me just got a couple of six story apartment blocks thrown down in the middle of much smaller duplexes and three deckers: is that good or bad? Technically it’s still a walk to the town center and it’s on a new trail, so that’s good, but it’s way out of scale for the neighborhood and would be better closer in with other buildings that size, so I’m glad I don’t live there. I see this one house is now abutting a brick wall almost as tall as the house
Always vote. There’s always someone analyzing trends, and you don’t truly know where it’s heading until you get there.
I do somewhat understand since I moved to Massachusetts: I’ll get my preference regardless whether I vote. But it does matter, even if it’s just a trend: I was a bit disappointed Biden didn’t quite get 2/3 last time around: he won with only 65.6%. We can do better! My county only voted 71.5% for Biden and there were at least three counties better. We can do better!
At least as importantly, it does give me more freedom to vote third party, in the comfort of knowing my state’s electoral votes will all go toward the sane option. Historically we’ve had reasonably strong showings for third party candidates, but last time was only 2%
