yeah, didn't work in brazil, we just opened up for the right to elect their dumbass just before the pandemic started, it was grim, please do vote for the lesser evil.

My voting strategy is super easy. You don't need to keep up with politics or policy. Just see who the KKK is voting for and then vote for the other guy.

Got it, should riot instead.

You can hate all the candidates and still vote for the less shitty one.

Honestly sometimes I think every country should have its own Sinn Féin of sorts. Just a party that never takes its seats. Yeah, try calling it the "same thing" when you can't pass any legislation or form coalitions or get anything done because a third of the seats in the national legislature are literally left empty on purpose. Don't like it? Well, it's your problem that your party is literally less electable than No Representation!

CGP Grey's Rules for Rulers spells out power structures in authoritarian and democratic countries really well.

If you vote, you are saying "I can support you, or I can support the other guy, but I will support someone" whereas not voting tells politicians you are politically useless, so they won't pay any attention to your needs.

It's a cynical way of looking at it, but if the no. 1 imperative for a politician is reelection, spending time doing things that will get you more votes is better than wasting time pleasing people who probably won't vote anyway.

If somebody tells you not to vote, they know who you would have voted for and rather you didn't.

ITT: people shouting "nuh uh" at the post.

I'm fairly convinced that Lemmy has been compromised with an inordinate amount of Russian propaganda relay bots.

Agreed, that's why the strategy of voting uncommitted and/or third party is superior.

Whilst I'm not in US with it's Power Duopoly system, were I've lived I've always made a point of voting in the elections I can vote, and if none of the options appeals to me, I just vote blank.

Abstention out of principle does get mixed with abstention out of laziness, out of disconnect from politics or simply because of not being able to go vote, but a blank vote is a statement of "I did go to the trouble of going to vote just to register my dissatisfaction with all available options".

I've also been on the other side (manning a voting place) and I don't recommend spoiling your vote (if voting with a paper ballot) as whilst the people talling the votes will indeed see your beautiful artistic depiction of male genitalia or read your strongly worded message of disgust with the selection of candidates available, it won't go beyond them as in the tally it just gets mixed with people that incorrectly filled-in the ballot (such as multiple marks, marks significantly outside the box or, in the US, hanging chads).

In France you can vote "blank" which is counted separately to absentees.

If you can, please go vote. You give the vote up to the person you like the least if you don’t show up. I know this election sucks and the candidates aren’t the best. But is there someone you absolutely don’t want in office no matter what? I have one in mind and you better believe I’m showing up to vote for the only guy who can have a chance to keep him away. These other third party guys have no chance, like always. If you don’t show up to vote or vote third party as a throwaway, then don’t complain for the next four years.

Low turnout doesn’t change their minds it makes them think they need to either go further to the center or that Americans are too lazy

you realize this is talking about not voting in a PRIMARY, for a nomination he can't lose, right? tlaib is not suggesting that they don't vote in the general for biden. she is saying write uncommitted in the PRIMARY. personally I don't think that will pressure them enough. a large number of people denying biden a vote in the general might make them get the picture though.

To solve this, find out how to register a protest vote and do that. Not voting is ambiguous, as is spoiling your ballot paper. What you need is a formally recognised way to vote "None of the above" or something similar, so that your intent is 100% clear.

That is only true in the undemocratic 2 party system of the US.

In places where they actually have multiple parties, say 10 or so at least. It is hard to not find a party that you like more than the others.

So if someone doesn't vote, it means none of the parties are good enough. Otherwise they would vote blank. And if too many people do not vote, it sends a clear signal to the government that they need to change something fast in order to prevent an uprising.

No, the problem isn't not voting, it's only voting, a distinction those of you who are dedicated to doing the latter refuse to acknowledge.

It is people who look at the system and think that a tick in a box once every four years can or ever will change that system, but in actuality only maintains it, who are the ones who need to be rethinking their strategy. 🙄

It is however easier to explain to people that those in power do not have popular support if there are less people that voted for them. I am not saying it is a good idea, but I am trying to say that this goes both ways. As some user previously said, voting for lesser of two evils and voting for absolute support is also indistinguishable.

When your choices in an election are between "boring corporatists" and "100% concentrated evil" you don't have the luxury of sitting this election out with your adorable little "protest vote."

If authoritarians win the next election, you won't have to worry about voting ever again.