I’ve been debating to myself whether or not voting for a third party candidate (Either PSL’s de la Cruz or Green’s West, regardless of my criticisms for both) would be the most “effective” use of my time in election season this year. The argument for “not” is that maybe voting at all is bad because it legitimizes this system, even if a third party candidate getting a record turnout would grab more attention (and piss off Blue MAGA cultists) than simply not going since it’s not like abysmal turnouts, even by this country’s historical standards, are newsworthy at this point. So I guess I have to ask how you people rationalize voting or not this year?

I fully understand that this is more symbolic than anything else and won’t materially affect change for a while but it’s still something to think about.

  • oktherebuddy@hexbear.netEnglish
    56·
    10 months ago

    I’m voting PSL in a swing state. I have a bunch of friends in safe dem states and when they get mad at me for this I ask them why they’re voting for the dems there if it doesn’t even matter, are they just in it for the love of the game (genocide)?

    A bunch of them have offered to do the vote swap thing with me but I’m thinking not. To the extent electoral politics matters and voting is a feedback loop on politicians (very limited), biden won’t be rewarded with my vote.

          • oktherebuddy@hexbear.netEnglish
            27·
            10 months ago

            The message is simple: “Friends don’t let friends protest-vote in swing states.”

            as always the only acceptable protests are the ones without any possible effect

            (EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

            lmao wtf? did the Seattle times just copy & paste a press release straight from the company?

          • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.netMEnglish
            15·
            10 months ago

            No reason to think they would work out either. Would a liberal truly get to the ballot box and actually fill in the communist party candidate’s bubble instead of just voting the blue no matter who that’s truly in their heart? Is the option to vote for your candidate even really on their ballot? Would it even matter if they wrote the candidate in?

            Write-in candidates have to register to even be a write in candidate in many states and most don’t do so. In 2020, Gloria LaRiva’s PSL ticket was only even on the ballot or a write-in in a grand total of 32 states+DC, putting them 75 electors short of the 270 to win even if they took every single elector in every single state for which they had ballot access.

            If you’re in a state where you can’t even vote for the candidate you want, sure try the swap. But don’t put too much faith in liberals following through on promises, they’re about as bad at is as their politicians.

            • Amerikan Pharaoh@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
              3·
              10 months ago

              Honestly if they’re white libs, I expect them to be lying shitheaps een on shit that doesn’t matter; no way in hell would I trust them with smth that actually does

            • a_blanqui_slate [none/use name, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
              1·
              10 months ago

              Obviously if it’s someone you met on Twitter with “#withHerforever” in their bio, then yeah, no reason at all to trust that they’ll follow through.

              But if you know someone in real life and trust them, and they have a basic understanding of the electoral colleges functionality (some not a democratic presidential campaign manager), they’d have to have some pretty massive brainworms to break that trust for absolutely no effect.

              I vote swapped in 2016, I’m confident they followed through cause I trust who I did it with.

    • Aryuproudomenowdaddy [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      27·
      10 months ago

      I remember a Redditor getting really upset with me for not voting for Biden last cycle despite not being in a swing state, because Trump might rig the elections and it would be harder to do that somehow if people voted.

      • oktherebuddy@hexbear.netEnglish
        8·
        10 months ago

        There is a very funny aspect of how much they fetishize swing state votes but would absolutely fucking never want to live in one of those states lmao. But still they want to control how the people who do live in those states vote!

    • beef_curds [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
      5·
      10 months ago

      Tell them “a dem vote in a safely blue state is a bigger waste than 3rd party. If a 3rd party gets over 5% of the popular vote nationally, they start to get access to public campaign funds. At least your vote might accomplish something.”

      I personally don’t know if 3rd party votes do much, but as long as we’re debating “wasted votes,” dem in a safe blue state is the ultimate waste.