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Why do American ballots have more than two choices, when the news media has spent their time pretending there are only two? (programming.dev)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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When you get your ballot and there's 10 choices but all year the media pretends there's only two, that should tell you something's seriously broken

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

and we've been trying for decades to reform our system for a better voting system. first past the post elections force strategic voting. that's the kind of elections we get. the only place where vote shares matter is for distributing public campaign finance funds.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago

To maybe add some more detail; I live in Massachusetts. My vote basically does not count. At all. Because my state will vote blue by a landslide, no matter what. And since that is basic political knowledge to everyone, how Massachusetts votes isn't even part of anyone's calculus for National elections. The only states that matter here are the "purple" or swing states, where it's uncertain. They literally decide the election. I actually voted for Gary Johnson back in 2016 (because I did not understand Libertarianism at all back then (but of course I thought I did)), but I was safe in the knowledge that not only would Gary Johnson not win, but my state's elector's were literally guaranteed to go to Hillary. So I voiced my minuscule bit of discontent, knowing I was absolutely not helping Trump in any way. My comments do require some background understanding of the toxic burn pit that is the Electoral College, so give a shout if you have any questions.