Voting

Why Younger Americans Don’t Vote More Often (*No, It’s Not Apathy) | FiveThirtyEight

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Why Younger Americans Don’t Vote More Often (*No, It’s Not Apathy) | FiveThirtyEight

That cynicism doesn’t seem to be motivating them to sit on the sidelines during elections. Instead, younger people are much more likely than older people to report that they or members of their household have experienced barriers to voting, which suggests that they may genuinely find it more difficult to cast a ballot. And that problem could be compounded this year given the extraordinary challenges of voting during a pandemic.

Understanding the Electoral College

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Understanding the Electoral College

American presidential elections are a strange beast. As the world was reminded in 2016, the candidate who wins the most votes overall won’t necessarily win the White House. For that, you can blame and/or thank the Electoral College.

More than 150 million people are expected to vote in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, but none of them will be casting a straightforward ballot for Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Both those candidates’ names will be on the ballot, of course. But when Americans go to vote for their preferred presidential candidate, they are actually voting for the state electors who have pledged to support that candidate in the Electoral College. Only in December do the 538 members of the Electoral College cast their votes for president, officially deciding who will take the oath of office in January.

There are some reports of people waiting three hours to vote on the first day of Early Voting 🗳

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There are some reports of people waiting three hours to vote on the first day of Early Voting 🗳

It’s absolutely stupid to wait that long, unnecessary Covid-19 risk with eight more days of early voting left plus Election Day. Or better yet, just do an absentee ballot, making sure to sign the outer envelope and date it, making sure to have it postmarked when dropped off at the post office. Hardly rocket science to have a valid absentee ballot.

Honestly, if the lines don’t tamper down this week I’ll just go to the post office and pay the 55 cents and make sure the clerk postmarks my ballot. No way in hell am I waiting in a line like that, especially when there is not a single competive election locally where the winner is all but certain to have more than 60 percent of the vote.

Hopefully these Early Voting spectacles won’t be a super spreader event for COVID-19. There is a very good chance that at least some of those people in the line have Coronavirus if statistics are to believed. The risk is so high with so many people in closer corners, touching the same pens and tablet computers when they sign in. I understand that democracy is important but it shouldn’t be conducted in a way that risks public health when there are so many safer ways to vote.

I plan to drop my absentee ballot off at the polling place during early voting

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I plan to drop my absentee ballot off at the polling place during early voting 🗳

The governor’s executive order allows for that and its the easiest way for me to do it – I can just fill it out from the privacy of home and be in and out. No wait or delay.

There is no reason for me not to vote by absentee. None of this year’s elections are competitive this year, so ballot challenges are very unlikely. But more than that, the basic law around absentee voting is straight forward and if you follow the rules your ballot will be counted. And even if you don’t follow the rules, chances are still good your ballot still will be counted.

And truth be told, any individual ballot doesn’t matter much. Only collective opinions decides elections not individual voters. It’s good to register your opinions – that’s important in a democracy but your opinions are only one of many so don’t get wrapped up around them. Your own vote isn’t going to change the world. Certainly if voting wasn’t so easy with the early voting site a less than a quarter mile from home, I’d probably think twice – although I’d probably still vote because it’s important.