cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21396125
Stephen Starr in Hamtramck, Michigan
Mon 14 Oct 2024 11.00 EDT
You’re confusing not voting and not liking both parties. A lot of people don’t vote because they don’t give a shit. Or simply can’t.
I haven’t voted most of my life because I’m disabled and can’t make it to polling booths.
In Switzerland we have a dozen major parties and turnout is around 30%. Our open list system allows for extensive “customisation of votes” and lets you choose from hundreds of candidates. People just don’t vote because they can’t be bothered or are busy aren’t really motivated etc.
I’m definitely not confused. Perhaps we have irreconcilable philosophical differences, but I’m certainly not confused by percentages.
Personally, I would a 30% voter turnout as a damning indictment of the system, particularly when Switzerland was one of the last countries in Europe to legalize women’s right to vote and the right to gay marriage.
For most of the US’s history, most people were simply not allowed to participate in that system and twice this century the winner lost the popular vote. How is it do hard to believe that someone would feel legitimately disenfranchised and frustrated by that system?
And Republicans have made it harder and harder to vote over the years.
Mail-in voting should be legal in all states and election day should be a federal holiday. You should also be automatically registered to vote if you are a citizen and get a driver’s license or ID card.
