Your vote.... (U.S. based)
By AidaLily
@AidaLily (1450)
United States
March 31, 2012 11:21am CST
Doesn't matter!
This is something I forgot to tack on to another discussion, but decided perhaps it needed its own discussion in order to have a debate not truly clouded by much else.
Your vote doesn't matter.
When it comes to president of the united states....
The population of the U.S 313, 275, 000. We will say that 11, 200, 000 are children just born or under the voting age. Which leaves us with 302, 075, 000. Now subtract about 6,000,000 who can't vote due to illness, mental retardation, etc. It now leaves us with 296, 075, 000.
Now even if every single one of those able-bodied voters voted, hardly any of the votes count. Think about. Most people complain that the voting lines close early. They aren't able to get their votes in even if they were there all day and the list goes on.
Another thing when talking about the democratic-republican party (the 'two' in offices now -includes congress-) is when you are watching the media that they all pay for.. you see the electoral college and the over all votes. Stated are called before the votes are even finished being counted. The media somehow knows which states are voting which way before voting is over? No. They already know who few decided the president will be. It doesn't matter if a large majority in a 'blue' state voted 'red' you will rarely ever see it unless the 'blue' or 'red' candidate didn't pay off the people they needed to in time.
What they use for voting is a similar strategy to that of a business. Employees are more satisfied if they feel they have an actual say in what goes on in the company. Voting is the same way. People feel satisfied to know they are doing their part by voting even though it really doesn't count. If our individual votes counted then why don't they want until all votes are in to declare won states? Why don't they show something like this
Number of people left to vote before midnight: 111, 075, 000
Number of people who voted for *insert 'republican' candidate here*: 95,000,000
Number of people who voted for Obama: 90,000,000
so we know our votes mean something? Wouldn't that make more sense?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@sierras236 (2739)
• United States
1 Apr 12
Way to go. You just invalidated the 15th and 19th Amendments of the US Constitution and all of that work that went into the process of ratifying the Amendments. (Sarcasm intended)
Yes, the President is decided by the Electoral College. Pick up a history book every once in awhile. That's why we are called a Federal Republic Government and not a Democracy (Republic in this case should be confused with the Republican party).
So here's a quick lesson the Electoral College. The number of votes that a State has in the Electoral College is based on the State's population as based upon the US Census. As you can imagine, the number for each state can change every ten years depending on whether the State is growing or declining.
Each state passes specific legislation on how they get to spend their electoral votes. Some states are all or nothing states. That means whoever wins the popular vote gets all of the electoral votes. Some states doll out their votes depending on how big a candidate wins in that state. It should be noted that the loser still gets some votes. How many depends on the percentage of people that voted for that candidate.
In 99.9% of the Presidential Elections, the Electoral votes with the popular vote.
This means that no matter how much a Presidential candidate spends on their election campaign, or how many hands he shakes, or how many debates they attend, or how many tv commercials, how many websites, etc., if no one votes for him, then his chances for the Presidency are zero.
That means votes do count. Which means your vote counts.
The reason that things don't change is because people don't vote. Your vote is your voice to that politician. By not voting, you lose your voice. It is the ultimate expression of approval or disapproval of the job approval.
Politicians can stay in office because they count on the same people who always vote. It is almost a guarantee in this day and age. But unless other people take the initiative and vote, then they stay in office.
Your vote is a RIGHT and an undisputed one at that.
See you forgot one thing with all your proposed numbers (that is assuming that these numbers are an accurate reflection of the number of people who actually do vote).
Majority may rule but the minority still has a voice. Without your vote, you have no voice.
If you are interested on cases where the Electoral College has gone against the Public vote, go look up the term "faithless elector."
So if you are reading the OP's argument and thinking that your vote doesn't count, don't believe it because it does. It is your voice and no matter how the election itself turns out, you are stating your voice and exercising your RIGHT as guaranteed in the US Constitution.
@AidaLily (1450)
• United States
2 Apr 12
I was wondering when one of you would show up.
First of all, if any American's voices truly counted the country wouldn't be in the state it is. Of course, Americans will blame the president and all that other B.S., before they realize nothing they say counts.
Honestly, you can say popular vote all you want, but you are missing the point. Most people who try to vote get shut out and let's not forget that our money pays for the machines used for voting which are all sadly electronic at least in my state. Those computers are easily hacked or 'misread'.
So if the popular vote is let's say 5,000 people for a candidate and there are a lot more people waiting to get votes and everything what do you call that? No one will actually look if everyone registered and turned out, but didn't get a chance to vote. Their votes will 'magically' appear as the popular vote (sarcasm intended).
The fact is while the people may have a voice in some states legislature, they don't have a voice when it comes to federal. Every American can cry that their voice counts and such, but it doesn't. If they are featured for some candidate saying their voice was heard... most of it is staged and perhaps they do just enough so that people can't call them a liar later.
As for the violating or invalidating the amendments.... not one person in congress nor one person running for president cares about our rights. Hell, you don't even have free speech anymore. There was another post about congress passing something and that Obama signed (yes they are all wrong) which says you can be arrested and put in federal prison for protesting a certain candidate and yes that included the people who are non-violent but holding up signs and shouting they want another candidate. Most of the people running for any office don't even have to read or pay attention to them. If a majority passes something in violation... then its passed. If its fought.. most likely they will add another useless amendment and guess what.. it passes. (sarcasm)
Like I said, as with a business employees who are allowed to bring ideas to a table or vote on company policies, however it is the CEO, General Manager, etc who makes the final decision and will go with what they feel like overall.
1 person likes this
@sirnose (2436)
• United States
31 Mar 12
Our presidential vote doesn't count, the presidency is determined by the Electoral College. The Electoral College generally goes along with the popular vote. Our vote is just ceremonial it doesn’t mean anything but a way to make us think that we participated in electing our leaders.
The president doesn’t really run or governs, he's just a figure head who takes the heat when things doesn’t go right. I really think that our population is closer to a billion people with all the illegals that have entered the country.
I think that our votes are manipulated this is why the media can predict the winner of a state. It’s better known as vote buying and the candidate with the most money spread around usually wins. If this government was for the people and by the people then our vote would count. Until we the people demand that big business and big money has no place in a democratic election we will continue to get what we're getting “Nothing.”...
@kolsti87 (521)
• United States
1 Apr 12
I agreed with everything except for the part about our population being close to a billion, unless that was sarcasm I failed to detect. If so, oops on my part.
It's somewhat controversial what you have to say but I like it and I agree, but it may get you voted down by the many people who may disagree. Oh well, I say rock on and stay thoughtful.
@sierras236 (2739)
• United States
1 Apr 12
You know why the media can predict elections? Because they are based on the popular vote. For 99.99% of the time, the Electoral College goes with the popular vote. The whole process is stated in the State legislation on Electoral Colleges. If people bothered to read the process, they would find that out. The tricky part for the media is the States that split up the Electoral votes. But such percentages are clearly spelled out. All that is needed is a simple calculator. Even the media as bad as they are, can actually use a calculator to add up the numbers. Heck you can do it yourself as soon as the votes are in.
If you want to know why the votes are in a sense predictable, the real explanation is much, much simpler. The same people vote over and over again. Those people are for the most part are consistent on how they vote. If you have the same people voting the same way every time, then it is pretty easy to figure out the winner and loser. The task becomes tricky when a lot of new people who have never voted before go to the polls. That is when elections become unpredictable.
@grandpa_lash (5225)
• Australia
23 Apr 12
I don't believe voting has much meaning in any participatory democracy, it's all window-dressing. Even disregarding the back room manipulation, "democracy" should simply be renamed "populism" for the sake of accuracy, and we could decide the whole thing at far less expense by holding a newspaper poll.
Lash
