Only 37% of eligible American citizens voted in all three of the most recent national general elections, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center – even though those elections saw some of the highest turnout in decades. The analysis, which tracked individual Americans’ voting decisions over the past six years, highlights both the limited share of the public that consistently votes, and the degree to which the fluctuations in turnout can alter the electoral landscape. The findings, taken in conjunction with other, sometimes-conflicting sources of election data, help to draw a more detailed profile of the 2022 electorate.
It might not be apathy; it could be the fact that for presidential elections, a vast amount of votes simply don’t matter, and that fact bleeds into other elections, where their votes would matter.
What I mean when I say that the votes don’t matter is that if a person is right-leaning in a solid blue state or vice versa, they can be reasonably sure that their vote is meaningless, because we let land masses vote for president, instead of people. Of course, this doesn’t apply for local elections, but I think it’s pretty plausible that this depresses turnout in them, anyway.
Yes, that’s the accurate name! I’m not sure I would call FPTP representative given how alternative votes are lost. Like if I’m a socdem in a red district my vote is void, since the FPTP only have one seat. In a proportional system there are bigger districts with more seats so that lesser groups can get their votes distributed onto a seat.
Like instead of NY State being 102 Dem & 48 GOP, it would be 70 Dem, 10 Socdem, 10 Greens, 20 GOP, 10 Trump, 10 Libertarian etc.
Really is frustrating with the amount of apathy going around, it only hurts ourselves
It might not be apathy; it could be the fact that for presidential elections, a vast amount of votes simply don’t matter, and that fact bleeds into other elections, where their votes would matter.
What I mean when I say that the votes don’t matter is that if a person is right-leaning in a solid blue state or vice versa, they can be reasonably sure that their vote is meaningless, because we let land masses vote for president, instead of people. Of course, this doesn’t apply for local elections, but I think it’s pretty plausible that this depresses turnout in them, anyway.
There should be a lot more engagement for an updated representative system. Nudge nudge from Europe. I recommend representative voting.
Do you mind elaborating on this? Do you mean Proportional Representation?
Yes, that’s the accurate name! I’m not sure I would call FPTP representative given how alternative votes are lost. Like if I’m a socdem in a red district my vote is void, since the FPTP only have one seat. In a proportional system there are bigger districts with more seats so that lesser groups can get their votes distributed onto a seat.
Like instead of NY State being 102 Dem & 48 GOP, it would be 70 Dem, 10 Socdem, 10 Greens, 20 GOP, 10 Trump, 10 Libertarian etc.