Which is unfortunate because it then becomes a matter of “I am voting against the candidate I don’t like” rather than “I am voting for the candidate I like”, and the voice of the people get lost.
While I would certainly love to see us replace FPTP, I’m not sure it would change much. Democrats have had two good bites at the apple of picking a progressive candidate in the last two Presidential Election cycles. The second bite even had several options across a spectrum of progressiveness. The moderate, old, white guy candidate won overwhelmingly both times.
We need more than a change in voting systems. We need a change in views.
In a healthy democracy, the second part of voting would come into play: You contact your local representative, and tell them what you want them to do. If enough of a representatives constituents directly voice their disapproval, the representative is forced to act, or else lose those voters. Its essentially lobbying, but leveraging your vote directly.
The caveats of course are that it doesnt work well for minorities, and you need a healthy functioning democracy, so, your mileage may vary :(
As is always the case when it comes to elections, choosing to not vote for the lesser evil is just voting for the greater evil
Which is unfortunate because it then becomes a matter of “I am voting against the candidate I don’t like” rather than “I am voting for the candidate I like”, and the voice of the people get lost.
Welcome to FPTP voting. System is working as designed.
While I would certainly love to see us replace FPTP, I’m not sure it would change much. Democrats have had two good bites at the apple of picking a progressive candidate in the last two Presidential Election cycles. The second bite even had several options across a spectrum of progressiveness. The moderate, old, white guy candidate won overwhelmingly both times.
We need more than a change in voting systems. We need a change in views.
In a healthy democracy, the second part of voting would come into play: You contact your local representative, and tell them what you want them to do. If enough of a representatives constituents directly voice their disapproval, the representative is forced to act, or else lose those voters. Its essentially lobbying, but leveraging your vote directly.
The caveats of course are that it doesnt work well for minorities, and you need a healthy functioning democracy, so, your mileage may vary :(
Yep and we wind up in the exact situation we’re in as a country currently. These people are demanding that you keep the status quo.
That voice exists in primaries and local elections. The general is for strategic voting. It’s how all party politics works.
Always been that way, unfortunately