Why do so few Americans vote?

[Zyxx]

Depression and hopelessness. Your typical American political candidate is a self-absorbed moron who couldn't debate his way out of a paper bag if a literal strawman were guarding the exit. The problem intensifies the higher up the ladder you go.
I tried - I honestly tried - to listen to the last presidential debates. I gave up during the second or third one, when it basically turned into them just trying to shout over each other at the same time. "What the HELL," I literally shouted aloud. "Are these two bone thugs (Romney and Obama) seriously the best we can get? If they were any less mature they'd be in diapers!"
I did vote in that election (for the Libertarian candidate - not that I'm a member of the party, but his was the most palatable name I saw on the list) but I was incredibly frustrated by the whole ordeal.

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

6 Reasons:

1. Voting is not mandatory like it is in many other countries.

2. Voting is often a massive inconvenience time-wise.
2.5 Some districts don't even count absentee ballots.

3. The way the electoral college is set up (that is, the process by which the votes are tallied and assigned to candidates) is one of the worst possible methods for creating fair representation.

4. Unless you live in Ohio, Florida, or another "Battle Ground" state, your vote will not matter because your state will always go to the party it has always voted for.

5. Our system is basically closed off to a third party. Parties other than Democrats and Republicans aren't shown in the debates nor are they given as extensive media coverage. Historically, the presence of a third party only served to split one of the two existing parties, allowing the other to win the election anyway.

6. Our president actually has very little power in domestic matters. Most of our country is actually run by Congress and the Senate. Therefore, changing a President only really effects our foreign relations and military (though most people don't realize this).

That last one is very true, also I didn't vote because leaving work early to drive 5 hours to vote on either side (Which I could barely stand) was not going to happen.

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

Interesting post. I do find the U.S system interesting but like someone said perhaps its old and broken. Perhaps after so many years of two parties many people have become disillusioned and worn out with little different changing. Maybe there's room for reform and some change there.

What I don't understand, is why the U.S doesn't allow online voting. If people could just log onto a voting website/ap with whatever details and vote that way, they'd not have to leave work to do it. If this happens, please correct me. I hope voting via mobile phones becomes more of a thing.

I do get that sometimes it feels like your vote doesn't count. I'm over in the U.K, and there have been times where I have not voted. Sometimes because of lack of choice, other times I didn't like any of the candidates policies. Add a politician saying something stupid and you roll your eyes at them and wonder why you bother.

I do agree on one thing. In the U.K, probably because we are a small nation, its a lot easier to set up a new party and eventually get a chance to have your say on whatever subjects are raised, even on tv. While paying attention to U.S politics, I would like to hear what some of the smaller parties have to say, especially when they seem to get the ghettoized brand from the main stream press, who love the 'one on one' of the Demos and Repubs more.

The big problem is that if you don't vote, you have less to say and complain about if things go wrong, having opted out of potential change or so we are taught. A real case of damned if you do or damned if you don't.

Oh god if they were going to try to ban on campus voting where I'm from do you think they would allow online voting?

 

[redknightalex]

For Presidential elections, when you live in a small state with very few of those stupid electoral votes, and a history of swinging in one particular direction, voting is almost an exercise in losing time. As others have said, we don't get time off from work to vote (which is BS) but there can be ridiculously long lines. The whole voter fraud "problem" that was on the news before Syria came to the forefront was in direct relation to the long lines suffered last election, where people waited hours and hours to vote...except headed in the entirely wrong direction of making it harder to vote.

On smaller issues...same deal for me. Once in a while I will have an actual state/local election that matters but, for the most part, my state is really predictable. Sometimes it does seem pointless when races are practically called before they even close yet I vote anyway. I want to say that I earned the bloody right to complain, *****, and write to whomever it is that was voted in because I exercised my constitutional power to vote.

Doesn't help that politics is typically a bunch of angry men screaming at each other, running around in circles. Oh well. At least there's a robust economy! Oh...wait...

 

[prpshrt]

To quote southpark, "why vote between a douche and a turd".

 

[Olas]

I think choosing not to vote can itself be a kind of vote. That's what the polling results won't indicate; how many of those no-shows aren't voting because they don't support any candidates running as opposed to because they just don't care about politics.

 

[deathzero021]

short answer: nobody cares who wins when the only two choices are $hit.

 

[Fijiman]

I don't vote because as far as I'm concerned politics are just a confusing mess of stupid and bullshit and I can't be bothered to waste hour upon hour of my time looking into who supposedly stands for what and what issues they are and aren't willing to talk about. In years to come I might at least bother making a more educated choice in the elections, but until then I'm not going to bother.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Do you vote? Why/why not? (I was going to make this question a poll, but y'know)
I find it to be a rather enjoyable experience. Makes me feel all grown up to go down to the local polling station and decide on the future of my nation.

I accidentally deleted your initial question, but I'll answer it first (to the best of my ability).

The very first post beneath yours already mentioned one reason - work day, no day off. This functions to prevent a lot of low-income individuals from voting because, to misquote House M.D., if you're working minimum wage, you really can't afford to take time off or risk pissing off your boss by calling in "sick".

Secondly, one major aspect is this - Districting. If you aren't familiar, American has a fairly bizarre system of slicing up areas in really strange ways. I'm not entirely up to date on the exact mechanics of how it works on a vote-by-vote level, but basically politicians will draw the voting distract map all wonky so that certain groups of voters are counted together while others are broken up. Depending on who is in office (and the level of corruption at that time) you get different political groups messing with the districts to favor themselves and harm the opposition.

I had it explained to me once, but that was some time ago. The basic idea, however, is that if you are a "minority" - politically speaking, I mean - in a given district, then you might as well not vote because the districting has been designed to screw over your group in favor of a different group. Again, this changes with various administrations, so political minority in a given district might not reflect actual minorities or political minorities state wide.

Thus, if you know that your vote can't possibly overpower the districting, why bother wasting your time?

Thirdly, the two-party "system" basically means that, if you are a member of a party other than the main two, then you can pretty much count on your vote meaning nothing.

So yeah - that's why a lot of people don't vote.

Now, to answer your second question....

When I lived in a heavily Republican district, no, I didn't vote, because my side was going to lose no matter what.

Now that I live in a more even (but leaning Democratic) district, yes, I do vote, because my vote actually helps tip the scales to my side.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

No reason to bother when my choice of vote would mean nothing since I live in a consistently red state. I guess I'll still vote out of a sense of duty, but it's easy to see why voter apathy exists in the capacity it does here.

Land of the free indeed.

 

[TWRule]

I don't vote, and I see no good reason why I should. All I ever hear in its favor is ideological bs.

I don't believe politics, least of all the political system here in U.S., is either an effective or civil way to relate to my fellow man, a way to have my "voice heard", etc.

I'm entirely apolitical, and unapologetically so.

Who asks people to vote who isn't primarily interested in winning favor for their political party, or just mindless regurgitating platitudinous value statements with regard to "our duty as citizens"?

 

[Strazdas]

not american, but i voted every single time possible.
American vite turnover is high compared to my countries, where it hardly reaches 30% lately. most people just go by "we can chose between two evil so lets not choose at all" type of deal. this allows parties like a party which was created for sole purpose of defending a killer from justice, because they imagined that the judge was a pedofile. yes, i am serious.

It doesn't help that we have a strict two party system. Both parties appeal to so many different types of people going from moderate to radical, so voting numbers get crazy depending on how the candidate appeals to a certain segment of the party. Even those politicians who like to say they have a bit of an independent mind still go with one of the parties, because they have nowhere else to go.

In america, both parties are right extremists anyway, so the appeal windows is small t begin with.

 

[Playful Pony]

We just voted for a new government in Norway, and when I went to vote the place was pretty much abandoned. Just my friend, the people working there and me... 81% of people in my country voted, with my city in particular having the lowest number of people turn up in the whole country X3. Nobody likes going out voting in the rain...

 

[Griffolion]

-snip-

Indeed, there needs to be more executive powers with one person/a smaller group of people within parliament. It makes for more risk for a nutcase getting in and screwing everything (Hitler, for example), but the beauty is that our Monarch is still head of the army, and can chuck out anyone they think is going to really screw the nation. The checks and balances works fine, and that's precisely what Magna Carta & subsequent declarations were intended for. Right now, parliament stagnates to indecision because there are so many voices saying so many things, nobody agrees, and thus nothing gets done.

Like I said, there needs to be one person, or a group of people that, at the end of the day, they can say, "You've weighed in, we've considered your opinions, but this is what's going forward.". Even if it doesn't necessarily work perfectly, at least stuff get's done.

 

[The White Hunter]

-snip-

Indeed, there needs to be more executive powers with one person/a smaller group of people within parliament. It makes for more risk for a nutcase getting in and screwing everything (Hitler, for example), but the beauty is that our Monarch is still head of the army, and can chuck out anyone they think is going to really screw the nation. The checks and balances works fine, and that's precisely what Magna Carta & subsequent declarations were intended for. Right now, parliament stagnates to indecision because there are so many voices saying so many things, nobody agrees, and thus nothing gets done.

Like I said, there needs to be one person, or a group of people that, at the end of the day, they can say, "You've weighed in, we've considered your opinions, but this is what's going forward.". Even if it doesn't necessarily work perfectly, at least stuff get's done.

What we need is a brief spell of a benevolent dictatorship. I vote that we do it under Brian Blessed. Because then when push comes to shove he can just bellow at whoever is responsible and shout them to the moon.

 

[Griffolion]

-snip-

Interesting you should say that actually. The Russians have a very similar mindset, except they call theirs the "Kindly Czar". Someone who is strong, and will get things done, but who also cares for the people. Honestly, if the dictator was truly benevolent, and had the people's interests in mind, then I'd be okay with it. But you just can't trust any one person to not go mad/evil with power.

 

[The White Hunter]

-snip-

Interesting you should say that actually. The Russians have a very similar mindset, except they call theirs the "Kindly Czar". Someone who is strong, and will get things done, but who also cares for the people. Honestly, if the dictator was truly benevolent, and had the people's interests in mind, then I'd be okay with it. But you just can't trust any one person to not go mad/evil with power.

Well history shows us that benevolent dictators (or indeed benevolent monarchs with power) are the most prosperous and effective form of government. It eleminates bickering and things are done in the interest of prosperity and the people.

The problem is the mechanism by which the dictator is installed, as it often will install somebody greedy and selfish, since those are precisely the kind of people who seek positions of power.