I have read several reports telling me that younger voters will stay away from the polls….even some of the older voters are not all that thrill and are considering not voting in this election.
If that is true why do they consider not voting?
The last time Richard Brown voted was in 2008. He had caught a couple of presidential debates on TV, and found himself liking what the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, had to say. And as a Black man, he was excited by the idea of voting for the country’s first Black president.
Then in 2012, he decided not to bother casting a second ballot for Obama. It wasn’t that he had soured on the president — he just didn’t think it was necessary. “He’s already in office … [so] I kinda figured he didn’t need my help,” Brown said. He was willing to take the time out of his day to cast his vote, but he didn’t think it would have an impact on the outcome. “I know it’s kind of a stupid thought, but I feel like one missed vote isn’t going to change anything.”
Twelve years later, though, he’s planning to vote again. It’s not because Brown, who is now 53 and lives in the Midwest, is newly hopeful that his vote will matter. In fact, he’s not at all confident that the candidate he’s supporting, Joe Biden, will win. But the stakes of this election feel personal. Over the past four years, some of his friends have changed the way they act and talk, saying hateful things about Obama or sharing racist memes on Facebook.
“I’m not even really keen on Biden,” Brown said. “It’s more so that Trump is bringing racist rhetoric out of a lot of people.” Those kinds of comments are “really hurtful to me, disrespectful to me,” he said. So he’s decided to vote again this year: “This way, if [Biden] does lose the election, I can’t say that it was my fault because I didn’t vote.”
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/non-voters-poll-2020-election/
I can understand for I find myself not at all thrilled with the two major candidates and any independents are not going to have a shot at the big chair….so not voting is an option, just not for me, but an option nonetheless.
Beyond that there are about 5 reasons some people will not vote….
Voting is a right that allows citizens to make their voices heard, but the reality is that as many as half of eligible voters in the US still don’t participate in the election process.
The US lags far behind most other developed countries when it comes to voter turnout. Only 55.7% of Americans voted in the 2016 presidential election, and even less of the population, 36.4%, voted in 2014, according to the Pew Research Center.
People’s motivations for voting vary. They might believe voting is their civic duty and that their ballot has the power to make a difference. Others just want to fit in with their peers, or their anger about a certain issue drives them to the polls.
The reasons people don’t vote are just as complex. While full voter participation helps maintain a fair and functioning democracy, everything from logistics to socioeconomic status can get in the way.
Here’s a list of five things stopping Americans from voting.
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/why-people-dont-vote/
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
In the past, I have also chosen not to vote, more so in the local elections for County Councils. (Something like your system of States) Since moving to Beetley from London, there often seems little point in voting, as the area has been comfortably Conservative ever since elections began here. So much so that the opposition candidates are little more than ‘Mild Conservatives’.
Best wishes, Pete.
I have voted religiously since 1972…..but this time is something different that I am still working on. chuq
One of the reasons that people will refuse to vote in this election is that they secretly harbor a desire to experience the Orwellian horror that awaits them when their No vote opens the door even wider for the anti christ to enter and take control of their lives.
The anti-Christ? chuq
Many feel we no longer have a government of “we the people” and the powerful elite control our destiny no matter who wins. Often I think voting is a delusion imposed on us so we do have a sense of directing our own destiny. If we think we do, we are fooling ourselves. Candidates seem to focus on lying about the numbers and facts and attacking the character of the opposition with hate talk and very little on policy talk. If elected, the winners seem to forget their policy promises anyway which is disappointing.
Emma Goldman once said “if voting changed anything it would be made illegal”. chuq
a demoralizing truth
Awe don’t now, and have never gad, a government of we the people. We have a government if people who have been elected to govern for limited time. Every functioning state is run by the chief executive. Some have powers limited by a constitution. All are subject to being removed or overthrown.
I voted yesterday. Could not bring myself to vote for either Harris or Trump. So I made a protest vote. That did mot make me feel good either, but I did register a vote so my vote will be counted in the vote totals. Having either of those two as president will be a very bad experience for four years.
I understand what you did and I salute you….stick to your guns. chuq
another reason that people choose not to vote is that they are too damned dumb to realize that if they do not vote, they are automatically casting a vote for Trump’s authoritarian regime.
Does not necessarily make them dumb….voting by holding nose does however. chuq