EPTGo Vote - Page 2
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sixfour
England11062 Posts
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Jerubaal
United States7684 Posts
I'm ok with voting inconvenient and people not voting. Voting should be viewed as a privilege. Studies done on propaganda in the 1950s indicated that the people who were least engaged in politics were the ones most susceptible to propaganda. Do you really want those people voting? Whenever you have a landslide election (like the last one), it's these people who are voting for the winning candidate.People who aren't particularly engaged and just pick up the most powerful tremors. And as a final note, choice theory doesn't know why anyone votes, as even the closest presidential election was decided by hundreds of votes. Of course, then you get into problems of "if nobody votes, then the one person who does vote decides", and it goes in a big circle. | ||
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felisconcolori
United States6168 Posts
And, falling back on an old standby... even if there is no one you want to vote for, there may be someone you want to vote against. Don't like D or R? Vote L, G, or P. Hell, write in Incontrol. Or vote for Flash. Even the votes for Mickey Mouse can send a message to the political elite. And you'll probably find that there's a lot more locally that will more directly effect you that maybe you can influence. 5/5. If you are in a place where you can vote, DO IT. | ||
itsjustatank
Hong Kong9179 Posts
On November 06 2012 05:19 Jerubaal wrote: The low voter turnout in the United States can be explained almost entirely on two factors. 1. Institutional: Non compulsory voting. No election holiday. Different voting days for various elections. Voting registration. 2. Periods of "social cleavage events", i.e. voting blocs are formed by events causing social cleavage like depressions, wars, etc. The 1940s Great Depression was the last clear cut social cleavage event. You could call the 1960s a mini one but only for the Democrats and since then we've been starting and stopping and trying to figure out where the parties are headed. Basically, social cleavage events increase political participation and then it winds down again until the next major event. We've been stop and go for a while, so who knows what will happen this election. I predict it will be down a bit from last time but still higher than the decade average before. I'm focusing mainly on people who actively refuse to vote. They could vote but choose not to, usually because of a political reason, apathy, or straight-up ignorance. I agree that many of the things you listed above would help drive turnout substantially. As for cleavage event, this recent economic crisis might turn out to be one. | ||
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Sinensis
United States2513 Posts
On November 06 2012 05:16 sixfour wrote: if you don't want to vote for anyone, write in incontrol, just vote I wrote in Bat Man. Should have written in incontrol... Hindsight is 20/20. On November 06 2012 05:40 itsjustatank wrote: And nothing will ever change because you refuse to express your preferences in any meaningful way. Outside of violent revolution, change will never occur in the status quo outside of the ballot box. Not with that kind of attitude it won't. | ||
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Phailol
United States84 Posts
Every. Single. One. This is why I don't vote. No matter who is at the helm, its going to be the same every single time | ||
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itsjustatank
Hong Kong9179 Posts
On November 06 2012 05:38 Phailol wrote: As far as I'm concerned, every single politician is a crook trying to serve their own ends and fill their own pocket books. Every. Single. One. This is why I don't vote. No matter who is at the helm, its going to be the same every single time And nothing will ever change because you refuse to express your preferences in any meaningful way. Outside of violent revolution, change will never occur in the status quo outside of the ballot box. | ||
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Phailol
United States84 Posts
On November 06 2012 05:40 itsjustatank wrote: And nothing will ever change because you refuse to express your preferences in any meaningful way. Outside of violent revolution, change will never occur in the status quo outside of the ballot box. And my voice is never going to matter. I'm just a cockroach among millions as far as those bastards are concerned. They don't care about the general populace, they don't care about what the people want. They want whatever will benefit them, and there is nothing that will change that. I'm sorry that you're so disillusioned from that, that you even think you even remotely have a chance at changing anything | ||
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makmeatt
2024 Posts
On November 06 2012 05:46 Phailol wrote: And my voice is never going to matter. I'm just a cockroach among millions as far as those bastards are concerned. They don't care about the general populace, they don't care about what the people want. They want whatever will benefit them, and there is nothing that will change that. I'm sorry that you're so disillusioned from that, that you even think you even remotely have a chance at changing anything Funny part is that's because you amongst other 'cockroaches' just let them do their stuff by not voting. | ||
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FabledIntegral
United States9232 Posts
Whether other people have this mentality as well is a completely flawed argument that doesn't detract from how it affects me as an individual. | ||
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Isken
Korea (South)1131 Posts
 Stupid though that I had to register again (four years ago my ballot simply came in the mail), if it was not for my dad being informed I think I would have simply missed the elections... | ||
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Jerubaal
United States7684 Posts
On November 06 2012 05:36 itsjustatank wrote: I'm focusing mainly on people who actively refuse to vote. They could vote but choose not to, usually because of a political reason, apathy, or straight-up ignorance. I agree that many of the things you listed above would help drive turnout substantially. As for cleavage event, this recent economic crisis might turn out to be one. There are two types of people who don't vote. People who are disengaged from the political process and people who claim to have "principled disgust". The former are vastly in the majority. I don't think I want those people voting. I don't even know if there's a way to forcefeed these people information. The second group is largely imaginary and where they actually exist exist largely in academia. | ||
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hp.Shell
United States2527 Posts
But that's, of course, the dream that intellectuals feed themselves so that they can continue believing they have some part in it all. If you really want to change something you're gonna have to actually run for office. Even if you're forced into corruption, there will at least be something small you can change for the better. I really only voted to take advantage of this principle of voting out local incumbents. Oh and one of my dad's old coworkers was running for treasurer so I voted for her, too. | ||
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GnarlyArbitrage
575 Posts
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itsjustatank
Hong Kong9179 Posts
On November 06 2012 05:52 FabledIntegral wrote: I see no reason to vote. My individual vote will have zero impact on the election, and I get spammed shit via mail when I register. Whether other people have this mentality as well is a completely flawed argument that doesn't detract from how it affects me as an individual. On November 06 2012 04:10 itsjustatank wrote: You do realize there are other things to vote on in an election season than that for highest office? A lot of those things will fundamentally affect you much more than whoever might end up being elected president (mayorships, initiatives and referendum, etc). | ||
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FabledIntegral
United States9232 Posts
Your post has zero relevance. | ||
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itsjustatank
Hong Kong9179 Posts
On November 06 2012 05:52 Jerubaal wrote: There are two types of people who don't vote. People who are disengaged from the political process and people who claim to have "principled disgust". The former are vastly in the majority. I don't think I want those people voting. I don't even know if there's a way to forcefeed these people information. The second group is largely imaginary and where they actually exist exist largely in academia. Would you say frictional unemployment doesn't exist as well? There isn't much data on the motives for people who do not vote so political scientists just ignore them or argue that institutional shifts will account for them. I disagree with this approach. It assumes those 80 million or so people don't actually have an opinion either way and would never express their preferences. It may be idealistic, but I'd like to see what might happen if they ended up voting. | ||
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Deleted User 135096
3624 Posts
'Murica, Go Vote! Seriously, I've been albe to vote since Gore vs. Bush, and the election was decided that year by under 600 votes. This is always a possibility in an election, and those who didn't vote in that election would have been able to decide who won. | ||
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Terranist
United States2496 Posts
On November 06 2012 05:52 FabledIntegral wrote: I see no reason to vote. My individual vote will have zero impact on the election, and I get spammed shit via mail when I register. Whether other people have this mentality as well is a completely flawed argument that doesn't detract from how it affects me as an individual. not to mention if you live in a far left or far right state, your vote is basically decided for you and all you're doing is signing up for junk mail and jury duty service selection. | ||
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itsjustatank
Hong Kong9179 Posts
On November 06 2012 05:58 DigiGnar wrote: Voting for president is a waste of time. The popular vote is to sway the electoral vote, who really elects the president. So, it's more important to vote for who/how the electorals get their status. As someone mentions below you, the votes of 600 people in Florida swayed the electoral vote in the elections of 2000. | ||
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