Does anyone else feel disenfranchised?

[dmadman43]

Originally posted by gallaj0
It makes a bigger difference than throwing it away on a candidate that isn't going to win my state anyway.

It's my vote, and I feel it can either have no affect in the election at all, or I can give it to a 3rd party candidate, and even when he (or she) gets laughed at, know that my vote did something. It was an attempt to disrupt the status quo.

The two party system is killing American politics, both parties are living off the die hard party line voters, and lying to the rest of us.

Maybe there would be more third party candidates for local elections if they saw some real numbers of votes in national elections.

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. As you can see, states are where the battles are won. Unless or until there are more 3rd party governors, there won't be strong 3rd party presidential candidates. History shows we elect more governors than we do any other office to President. And it's hard to come out of nowhere to be governor of a state. You must build the 3rd parties at the local level. It doesn't make a bigger difference nationally. It just doesn't. Where did it get Anderson? Where did it get Perot? Where is his party? Where is it getting Nader? How many Green party candidates are on the local ballots. How effective do you think a 3rd Party President would be with no 3rd party support in Congress?

 

[dmadman43]

Originally posted by piratesmate
Someone should show that article to my history teachers/professors. That's what we were told, but I never cared enough to research to see if it was correct.

Ah, yes. The effectiveness of government schools.

 

[padams]

The electoral college isn't going anywhere. Abolishment of the EC would have to pass through Congress. No small state would support such abolishment because those small states would be rendered irrelevant. For example, Iowa could continue to stage the Iowa caucuses at the beginning of the primary season but no candidate would show up. There wouldn't be enough votes in Iowa to matter. The campaigns would only need to be active in a handful of large states (NY, CA, etc.) that contain most of the US population. With no EC, there would be many more complaints of "disenfranchisement" than the current complaints from minority voters in solidly blue or red states.

 

[dmadman43]

Originally posted by padams
The electoral college isn't going anywhere. Abolishment of the EC would have to pass through Congress. No small state would support such abolishment because those small states would be rendered irrelevant. For example, Iowa could continue to stage the Iowa caucuses at the beginning of the primary season but no candidate would show up. There wouldn't be enough votes in Iowa to matter. The campaigns would only need to be active in a handful of large states (NY, CA, etc.) that contain most of the US population. With no EC, there would be many more complaints of "disenfranchisement" than the current complaints from minority voters in solidly blue or red states.

More to the point, the Constitution would have to be amended to abolish it, or even modify it.

 

[Laz]

Originally posted by gallaj0
If you feel your vote is wasted in a state that always goes one way or the other, feel free to use it on a third party candidate.

The way the elections are run, third party candidates will only get some respect when a significant number of people vote for them, wether or not they recieve any Electoral College votes.

Things like funding for the next election cycle, participation in debates, etc. all are figured on the number of real votes, not EC votes.

And while there may not be any current third party candidates you like this year, by helping to make a third party viable, you can guarantee a better selection next time.

How many times have we heard that we're only picking the lesser of two evils when it comes to presidential elections?

You can change that by using your vote to make a statement to the 2 big parties that feel they don't need to offer you a decent candidate, and shake up the process to give us Americans dome real choices when it comes to the most important choice we have.

The Dems and Repubs have the system locked up, but we can change that by forcing them to respect the system for what it really is; the method to elect the BEST person to run our country, not the lesser of two evils, packaged and presented by their political and corporate handlers.

Very well said. I also must add that I have had to convince my high school students (who are voting for the first time) how important it is for them to vote, even in a fly-over state like Indiana.

A student was disheartend because she felt her vote for Kerry would mean nothing in a state where all 11 electorial votes would be going to Bush (yes I am a Bush supporter). I told her that if she and others like her did vote for Kerry, you could be making an important statement for Indiana. It could be closer in Indiana than many thought. Both Parties would begin to look at Indiana as a possible swing state and spend more time dealing with the issues improtant to Indiana. Every vote does count!