4 ms·

Im not a fan of this line of thinking. This ignores the systemic reasons people might not be able to vote. Can you get time off of work, are the poll lines unr

Im not a fan of this line of thinking. This ignores the systemic reasons people might not be able to vote. Can you get time off of work, are the poll lines unreasonably long, are the polls close enough to you (you don't necessarily have a car), was your registration purged for reasons unknown (bigger than nonvoters is the population of people eligible to vote, but unregistered), did you just not register because of identification issues or bureaucratic nonsense? Claiming that "people that choose to stay at home" are all independent of the system that effectively disenfranchises them is problematic.

germinalphrase 7y ago
I agree with you. The answer should be to eliminate those barriers. Sadly, we probably will not do so because those barriers (and the resulting suppression of votes) is politically beneficial to some.
- munificent 7y ago
  We will do so if people show up and vote for candidates that care about that. People like to claim both parties are the same, but look at how often Democratic politicians try to increase voting access and how often Republicans try to limit it. Their actions are telling you something.
munificent 7y ago
> This ignores the systemic reasons people might not be able to vote. It does not. Like I said, work to fix the systemic problems. Also, go vote. These are not mutually exclusive actions. There is a pernicious idea that not voting is a viable strategy to register your discontent or stick it to the man. This a nonsense belief perpetrated by people in power — especially Republicans — who want you to not vote. The fewer people who vote, the cheaper it is to influence enough people to swing an election. Anyone who suggests its OK to not vote doesn't have your best interests at heart. That doesn't mean there aren't legitimate things making it difficult to vote. Those are problems that should be fixed. In the meantime, vote.

germinalphrase 7y ago

I agree with you. The answer should be to eliminate those barriers. Sadly, we probably will not do so because those barriers (and the resulting suppression of votes) is politically beneficial to some.

munificent 7y ago
We will do so if people show up and vote for candidates that care about that. People like to claim both parties are the same, but look at how often Democratic politicians try to increase voting access and how often Republicans try to limit it. Their actions are telling you something.

munificent 7y ago

> This ignores the systemic reasons people might not be able to vote. It does not. Like I said, work to fix the systemic problems. Also, go vote. These are not mutually exclusive actions. There is a pernicious idea that not voting is a viable strategy to register your discontent or stick it to the man. This a nonsense belief perpetrated by people in power — especially Republicans — who want you to not vote. The fewer people who vote, the cheaper it is to influence enough people to swing an election. Anyone who suggests its OK to not vote doesn't have your best interests at heart. That doesn't mean there aren't legitimate things making it difficult to vote. Those are problems that should be fixed. In the meantime, vote.