I actually read the Wikipedia article on the US electoral system, and after reading it, I find myself no more informed than i would have been had I not read the article! 😀
On a more serious note, the electoral process is supposed to be a democracy but there are reasons why people feel their votes do not count.
The candidates with the most well funded campaigns backed mostly by corporations get a shot at the presidency. Then the two most well funded parties get the airtime to advertise, almost always the same 2 parties. then people vote for those two instead of considering a third option. So, in a system where money talks, you can not expect things to be more fair if you always vote for those who get the lion’s share of it.
And then you have voting machines that have a 5% to 15% margin for error and seats calculated based on an unbalanced system that was in place since the days of black slavery and instead of balancing votes between states ensures that where you live can make your vote count for more or less during the election by making the number of seats per state disproportionate to the state’s population. It is not the popular vote that wins, it is the party with the most number of seats wins meaning a candidate can lose by millions of votes and still become the president.
And then there is the voter fraud. Many dead people are registered voters, people have gone and cast ballots in their names many times before. people who are near state borders can cheat the system and get 2 votes by voting in 2 different states.
So yeah, why should all people be fooled into thinking all of their votes count?
Actually, the much-toted “voter fraud” of dead people registered to vote is… fallacious. So what if they’re *registered* to vote? If they (or, rather, someone else in their name) has not cast an actual ballot, there’s no /fraud/. Likewise with this infamous “registered in two states.” Whose responsibility is it to de-register to vote in the old state if someone moves, the mover, or the old state? In fact, is the mover even *able* to de-register a vote? (I have, admittedly, not done any research into how easy it would be for someone to de-register to vote.) How often do states purge their records of outdated information?
My point is, a bugaboo is being hyped about this so-called “voter fraud” of registered dead people and people registered in multiple states. None of that is fraud. The fraud only comes if those registrants *cast votes* (which there’s little to no evidence has happened, in favor of one candidate or another.)
If you don’t value your opinion enough to go and vote, what makes you think that I’m going to value your opinion either. That’s my general attitude.
As a resident of Texas, this one hit home. 🙁
I actually read the Wikipedia article on the US electoral system, and after reading it, I find myself no more informed than i would have been had I not read the article! 😀
My guiding principle is that if you don’t vote, you’re not justified in complaining about the result
This election was…
Crapinski’s Flying Shit Circus!
Starring:
The Great Crapini
Crappo the Clown!
With special guest appearances by:
Oshit the Elephant
The Flying Turdinskis!
You’ll LAUGH!
You’ll CRY!
You’ll SHIT A BRICK!
On a more serious note, the electoral process is supposed to be a democracy but there are reasons why people feel their votes do not count.
The candidates with the most well funded campaigns backed mostly by corporations get a shot at the presidency. Then the two most well funded parties get the airtime to advertise, almost always the same 2 parties. then people vote for those two instead of considering a third option. So, in a system where money talks, you can not expect things to be more fair if you always vote for those who get the lion’s share of it.
And then you have voting machines that have a 5% to 15% margin for error and seats calculated based on an unbalanced system that was in place since the days of black slavery and instead of balancing votes between states ensures that where you live can make your vote count for more or less during the election by making the number of seats per state disproportionate to the state’s population. It is not the popular vote that wins, it is the party with the most number of seats wins meaning a candidate can lose by millions of votes and still become the president.
And then there is the voter fraud. Many dead people are registered voters, people have gone and cast ballots in their names many times before. people who are near state borders can cheat the system and get 2 votes by voting in 2 different states.
So yeah, why should all people be fooled into thinking all of their votes count?
Actually, the much-toted “voter fraud” of dead people registered to vote is… fallacious. So what if they’re *registered* to vote? If they (or, rather, someone else in their name) has not cast an actual ballot, there’s no /fraud/. Likewise with this infamous “registered in two states.” Whose responsibility is it to de-register to vote in the old state if someone moves, the mover, or the old state? In fact, is the mover even *able* to de-register a vote? (I have, admittedly, not done any research into how easy it would be for someone to de-register to vote.) How often do states purge their records of outdated information?
My point is, a bugaboo is being hyped about this so-called “voter fraud” of registered dead people and people registered in multiple states. None of that is fraud. The fraud only comes if those registrants *cast votes* (which there’s little to no evidence has happened, in favor of one candidate or another.)