I've been seeing a lot of anti-voting sentiment going around. Can't believe I have to say this, but you need to vote. Not only is there more to the election than just the president. (State policy, Senate, house), but not voting is not an act of protest. C'mon guys

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[–] Binzy_Boi@supermeter.social 26 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Third party candidates still exist and are legitimate options to vote for despite what everyone wants you to believe.

[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 47 points 9 months ago (3 children)

3rd party is a lost vote. Parties need to start small and build. Everyone knows this.

[–] emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works 11 points 9 months ago (2 children)

And how can those small third parties grow if people don't vote for them?

[–] FenrirIII@lemmy.world 24 points 9 months ago

Start small, at the local level. City, county, school board, or even a state representative. You build up a following starting at a smaller level because there are fewer people to have to convince to vote for you.

[–] JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

Got them into local positions and let them build power in the lower levels before moving up. Voting at the federal level for anyone other than the big two is a wasted vote at this time

[–] julianh@lemm.ee 41 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Maybe for some local elections. But you really need heavy support, otherwise you're dividing the vote which can lead to more harm. Some places have rank based voting now though which makes it possible to vote for 3rd parties without dividing the vote. Hopefully that becomes more common.

[–] Binzy_Boi@supermeter.social 13 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I get where you're coming from. I'm definitely in favour of a ranked choice voting approach cause it does a lot more to get rid of the spoiler or dividing vote fallacy.

The entire spoiler or dividing vote hoax is based on this false assumption that the voters carry the responsibility for not voting for a "lesser evil" candidate when that burden of responsibility should instead be on the nominee for not doing enough in their power to win over votes.

With the current election, Biden is being a complete dumbass and is hemorrhaging support from Arab Americans and young people because of his refusal to stop giving weapons and aid to Israel and properly withholding those until a full and permanent ceasefire is reached. He's also losing support from Hispanics, though the reasons there are more to do with how he hasn't been doing enough to better the lives of working-class people.

Arab Americans and young people aren't going to turn around and vote for Trump, or in the off chance he receives a conviction before November, whoever else the Republican nominee will be. They're more likely to vote third-party or independent or not vote at all, and unfortunately with the latter, that's when the burden of responsibility becomes shared.

[–] CoggyMcFee@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The entire spoiler or dividing vote hoax is based on this false assumption that the voters carry the responsibility for not voting for a "lesser evil" candidate when that burden of responsibility should instead be on the nominee for not doing enough in their power to win over votes

No, that’s just plain incorrect. The spoiler vote phenomenon is an inevitable consequence of our first-past-the-post election system. Whatever you start from, this voting system trends to two parties over time. You can model this and watch it play out. It’s not a hoax. We even saw Ross Perot make a serious run at the presidency in the 90s, and he ended up with zero electoral votes, and 4 years later he did much worse and his Reform party fizzled out and nothing came of it. Because it is absolutely suboptimal in our voting system.

[–] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Ah a Trump supporter! Let me know how that works out for you!

Question? How did Trump treat Arabs last time? Did they enjoy the travel ban? The exponential increase in hate towards them in this country?

Once Trump, wins and helps Israel turn Gaza to glass, will helping him win make them feel good? Once Trump puts them in concentration camps in this country, will they be happy?

When, Trump cements his dictatorship so there is no vote in 2028, will they they be satisfied?

I don't like Biden, but not supporting him now, is supporting a repeat of 1930s Germany...

[–] jumjummy@lemmy.world 19 points 9 months ago (1 children)

In the realities of the US electoral system, a vote for a third party is akin to a vote for Trump. Twist and spin all you want, but that’s reality.

Anyone who argues this is either naive, or a disinformation Russian asset.

[–] FreakinSteve@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Why isnt a third party vote a vote for biden?

[–] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

While technically "possible", the likelihood of Trump supporters switching to vote 3rd party is very low at this point.

Just about everyone talking about voting third party is a progressive that would have voted for Biden. If they weren't being duped by Russians.

[–] FreakinSteve@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Explain "duped by Russians", and how trump voters are not being duped by Russians while unconvinced biden voters are.

[–] horsey@lemm.ee 2 points 9 months ago

They are being duped by Russians… into voting for Trump. But anyway, the question is who the third party voter would have voted for otherwise.

[–] dditty@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago

I'm voting for a 3rd party in the general bc my state is a staunchly blue state (every presidential election since 1972) so my vote counts more that way. If I lived in a swing state like WI, PA, GA, AZ, CO, etc, I would definitely vote Dem.