this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2024
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We need legislators who aren't all literally older than cryptography. If they weren't bought and paid for by billionaires that would be nice too.
That requires a population willing to vote for such legislators.
FPTP does destroy a lot, I'll give you that, but municipal and regional elections have miserable turn-outs too and they have much more potential for perceptible change than state or national change.
In the USA things have to get way worse than they are now before they get better. A very very large percentage of voters would have to be fed up with FPTP to force change in that area. Also, they would have to be educated enough to understand that FPTP is a problem.
Clearly. Good people can't do bad things.
Don't mind me, just reposting a FPTP video I just saw in another thread on lemmy.
It also heavily discourages voters from participating because they've never felt represented, as the two party system is ultimatively a minority rule. So why should they care for local elections held within the same system?
Edit: a word.
It requires score voting so that, even if heavily gerrymandered, one can still meaningfully express a preference without throwing one's ballot in the garbage.
It's never throwing your ballot in the garbage though. I used to think the same way, but every vote on the left, even if for the lesser evil, even if they lose, moves the conversation to the left. When we all stay home you get maga nutjobs stealing the show running unchecked.
Last thing is that gerrymandered states are the EASIEST to upset by increasing voter turnout. To gerrymander effectively you have to put your opponent in dense areas they'll win by a large margin, then spread your side so that you barely win the rest of the districts. That means that a 5% increase in votes on the left can take you from a loss to a nearly complete victory in a gerrymandered state.
Vote splitting on the other hand is a trickier beast, but in the end if all the left votes go to a moderate then that gives the left a lot of leverage because if the moderate candidate doesn't bend to the left then they'll lose the next election.
Always vote.
Election reforms require getting out to vote now even if its harder.
You are correct. I hope nobody thought I am against voting. Everyone needs to vote.
Mostly just saying it outload, I know I fall into the trap myself and just need reminding "perfect is the enemy of good" sometimes.