kittyfajitas
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Oct 28, 2024 8:22 PM
kittyfajitas
21909
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TongueTiedLabourerfromtheLandoftheLittlePeople
Well you can also promote discussion, do volunteer work, promote community action, raise peoples' opinion of the left, run for minor government positions, support activist organizations and boycott companies.
Hurch
Presidential election gerrymandering could be easily avoided if we went by popular vote instead of using an electoral college. State representative gerrymandering would be much more difficult to do away with.
flashboredom
I heard somewhere that voting is like taking the bus. It might not drop you off right where you want to be, but it is a good idea to board one taking you in the right direction,
veesee
Wait... Puerto Rico can't vote?!?!?! How?!?! Why aren't they revolting and becoming their own country?!?!
veesee
Also the felons thing is wrong. Differs from state... I researched it to see if tge nazi felon in Florida could or not.
blfpd
I'm sad that nowadays Democracy means voting. Even during the French revolution, the bourgois didn't wanted Democracy, and they instead establised voting so they can stay in position of power. Choosing your despots does not make the poeple having the power, evenmore if they control the medias
kittyfajitas
Democracy requires voting, but voting doesn't always mean democracy.
OneCraftyHooker
Well my understanding was that Puerto Rico voted not to be included as a state?
Bhargo
not only did a lot of us have to fight for the right to vote, right wing extremists are still actively trying to take those rights away. if voting didnt matter, they wouldnt be trying so hard to stop us from voting.
plausiblecake
I think people in jail really shouldn't vote, how is that a partisan take?
plausiblecake
Do I think people in jail shouldn't be there too? Yes, but that's not very many of them
TheFakeCraigFerguson
My mom INFURIATES me. She refuses to vote (which, with the kind of person she is you'd think she was a repub, but she's reliant on enough gov programs to know better. She did think Trump had the right idea about locking the children of immigrants up though :D -.-) If anyone asks if she's registered to vote she claims to be a felon. She is not. Voting doesn't matter to her in the slightest
StSob
Another argument for voting is that you have to use all the political tools available. Theres no way to know what will work in advance. Sure sometimes voting doesnt change anything, but other types of political action like protesting or even revolution arent a guaranteed success either. And voting is generally less dangerous and time-consuming than other options.
johnvictor
We don't want to open the fourth box really because there's no putting that away in a short time. The reactionaries have opened it now and Jan. 6th was their first run of it. There will be another and violence in the streets regardless of how this election goes.
SecondSince
Yes. After hopefully Harris wins there will need to be quick and decisive action against any bullshit like Jan 6th! Be prepared, gace and stop them, and then prosecute them to the fullest of the law!
StSob
IMO the Jan. 6th events kinda prove my point. Those guys occupied one of the main government buildings during an important event, and what did they achieve politically? Literally nothing. And thats an answer to all ppl who say "voting doesnt matter we need a revolution" like revolution is some silver bullet that always works.
IconicM
Republicans are literally purging voter rolls right before elections to prevent people from voting.
OnomatopoeicOnanisma
...and burning early votes. https://abcnews.go.com/US/ballot-box-set-fire-west-coast-portland-oregon/story?id=115221030
Almost like they are trying to steal an election... next up, lessons from Georgia (Caucasus).
TheDaharMaster
Voting got us legal weed.
sirleoiii
Optimism is a revolutionary act in a world trying to teach you otherwise.
BarderBetterFasterStronger
That's cool but if the end result is still the collapse of complex life on the planet, did it really matter?
mithiwithi
Or the shorter version: "If voting changed anything, they wouldn't let people do it" "Well, given how much effort Republicans are putting into not letting people do it, clearly THEY think it changes something."
brightorangeshorts
Don’t despair. It’s what they literally want. The rhetoric has ramped up because Republicans are scared. They are all delicate glass dolls
Sw1ftTurtle
If voting doesn't change anything why do politicians in democracies keep losing their jobs around election time?
Rips4w
And yet a candidate can be overwhelmingly trounced in the popular vote and still be elected.
ShinyVulvasaur
The central theme of American progress, imo, is that older generations *say* they love freedom and justice, and then younger generations grow up and try to actually hold them to those ideals
samanthadlcruz
"full rights to vote" as if republican's weren't STILL trying to suppress the vote every chance they get
thedudeman519
"If voting mattered they wouldn't let people do it!" Is an interesting point. I wonder if they know about this stuff going on.
Valkor
no, the argument is "if voting changed anything, it would be illegal"
Nonada
Republicans have been working on it for years
PinkyTheUnicorn2
Voting became a right when kings and tyrants were deposed, by force.
Voting rights are written in blood.
StSob
In the modern world the people are supposed to be the source of political power, so removing elections completely isnt a good idea. Even North Korea has some sort of elections. Obviously the groups in power will try to set up the election in a way that guarantees their victory, and in the most extreme examples there'll be only one option on the ballot. However if theres more than one option it can likely be used by the opposition forces to shift the balance in their favor.
wingineer
That’s a distinction without a difference. To pick an infamous current example, DeSantis has had people arrested for trying to vote: apparently voting is indeed illegal for them. It’s only through centuries of effort that people forced the system to legalize voting for most adults, and the forces of reaction are still trying to turn back the tide.
AgainstMethod
If voting didn't matter, rich people wouldn't do it.
Fjorkvar
Puerto Rico isnt a state. If you cant abide the laws, then you have no place in voting.
FenrirsDaughter
Puerto Rico is a US Territory that has petitioned multiple times to become a state, and Congress has ignored it. Still the mainland US continues to tax Puerto Rico without allowing it any representation. The very thing the US said fuck you to the British over.
Fjorkvar
ok. that doesnt change fact that they are not currently a state, so they dont currently get to vote. OP asks why they dont get a vote and thats why.
kittyfajitas
It's not explicitly stated, but the implication is that Puerto Rico has been prevented from becoming a state in order to keep the people from having a vote.
Fjorkvar
Then say that
kittyfajitas
hellospacemonkey
The formula for change: End Gerrymandering in 2025 with a congressional act. Start amendment process for ending Electoral College. End Supreme Court Bribery and end Blue Slips and filibusters in the US Senate.
CyanideBreathMint
There is already a Pact formed to upend the electoral college. If a couple more states join, the Pact member states would give all their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote in their state ending the electoral college process.
hellospacemonkey
It's called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) : https://act.commoncause.org/petitions/fix-the-broken-electoral-college-pass-national-popular-vote/
eronth
Another high priority is ranked choice voting.
LittleAzie
Puerto Ricans don't vote in US elections, because they keep voting not to join the US and just remain a territory of the US. IT IS THEIR OWN CHOSING. Only issue in this I see. The rest is valid.
GriffinMann41
This is just completely wrong. Puerto Rico holds referendums to join and joining the US wins very often. Their choice, consistently, has been to join the US. Congress ghosts them
LittleAzie
Please see the following link that I forgot to tag you in: /gallery/KeQc4VR/comment/2424903247
Salticido
Not true. There's 6 times they've voted on this. The first 2 times, they voted for Congress to give up its plenary power, which is only possible via statehood or independence; 3rd time, none of the above won; 4th, 5th, & 6th, voted were all for statehood. They'll vote a 7th time next month. https://time.com/7024574/puerto-rico-status-vote/
LittleAzie
Ah, So I was misinformed quite well. Thanks for clearing that up. I was always told that they only held three or four votes on it, and each time it ceased to form a super majority that was needed.
Salticido
There have been some criticisms of some of the votes, like low turnout for the 5th one, but I think the bigger issue is not enough people outside Puerto Rico give a fuck. But the Puerto Rican Status Act, which would actually give them the choice for once, was reintroduced in the current Congress and has more co-sponsors than any prior similar bill, so we'll see. Maybe the 7th vote will actually count for something.
LittleAzie
Honestly, I want them to get what ever they really want. I had a nice time worker there for about 6 months. Have some family from there, but haven't talked to them for a while, because we lost touch before internet. Hope it goes the way they want.