Does voting matter?

[Nick1911]

In your opinion, does voting matter?  Why or why not?

[charby]

Yes, because we had a lot of local races this year won by less than 25 votes, even after a recount.

[RoadKingLarry]

On the local level absolutely. On the national? I don't know anymore.

[cordex]

Yes, because we had a lot of local races this year won by less than 25 votes, even after a recount.

If a race won on a margin of 25 votes means your vote matters then why not a race won on 25,000 votes, or 25,000,000?  In any case no individual vote changed the outcome, only a group of votes did.

Does any one vote matter?  Almost never.
Does voting effect change?  Sometimes.
Does voting matter?  Absolutely, because the illusion of power provided by voting encourages buy-in from the populace and reduces the likelihood of violent regime change.

[MechAg94]

Yes.  Partly because if it doesn't then the options for how to preserve freedom dwindle down to one. 

[Boomhauer]

Sure as hell doesn’t seem like it does, especially when nothing seems to change no matter who gets voted in, we the taxpayer and normal, everyday citizens just get screwed in new and interesting ways, especially by the “reach across the aisle” mentality that suddenly arises when our favored party gets put in charge.

One of the major issues concerning this is that corruption starts at the low level government employee level and massively increases when you get to the elected level. There is nothing “right” or good at any level of government.

[griz]

Yes, it matters.  If it didn't then congress critters wouldn't spend millions of dollars campaigning for a job that pays thousands.

[Boomhauer]

Yes, it matters.  If it didn't then congress critters wouldn't spend millions of dollars campaigning for a job that pays thousands.

They care about voting because that’s the path to that sweet lobbyist money. That’s the only way voting matters.

[Pb]

Yeah.

But the votes of apathetic, unintelligent, ignorant parasites count the same as those who are not.

This is why I support limited franchise.

[MechAg94]

Yeah, a few problems mentioned above and some more.

1.  Many ignore or pay little attention to local elections.  Often the corruption at the federal level starts at the local level or at least the local level is where people are recruited to run for higher office.  This includes local party officials and campaign workers.
     1a.  Some areas have seen this change a little with school board elections since the trans activist stuff has pissed off a lot of people.  Not sure if that will last.

     1b.  People are far too willing to vote for incumbents when they should be the least trusted candidate.

2.  Normal working people often don't want to dedicate the time to run for office and/or hold office (locally or otherwise).  I wonder if we would be better off simply drafting people to hold office.  Maybe draft a handful of people and then vote for the best of the group.

3.  Campaign finance laws are nearly all designed to make it easier for incumbents to win reelection and make it harder and costlier to challenge them.  Unregulated money in elections is not a bad thing as long as it is above board and out in the open to see.  The bureaucracy of campaign finance laws makes it more difficult to track money and produces loopholes to hide it and profit from it. 

[AZRedhawk44]

It doesn't matter if it matters or not.

It's immoral because there's no opt-out of the consequences for those that don't agree to the terms.

[WLJ]

Yes I vote but sometimes I feel like my only choices are between the blue Dodge and the red Dodge

[RoadKingLarry]

Yes I vote but sometimes I feel like my only choices are between the blue Dodge and the red Dodge

If you vote for the purple Dodge you are throwing away your vote.

[Ron]

If we all keep voting it makes them have to work that much harder to steal elections.

The early voting, mail in absentee voting and totally corrupted electronic voting machines are all in response to voters not voting the way the narrative crafters want.

My suspicion is most major state and fed races are rigged to one degree or another.

If someone chooses not to vote I don't blame them. I've pretty much become uninvested emotionally from the whole system myself. It's not salvageable IMHO. I may opt out of voting sometime soon. I've been threatening it for several election cycles, but always break down at the last moment and vote for my losers over their losers.
 

[charby]

If a race won on a margin of 25 votes means your vote matters then why not a race won on 25,000 votes, or 25,000,000?  In any case no individual vote changed the outcome, only a group of votes did.

Does any one vote matter?  Almost never.
Does voting effect change?  Sometimes.
Does voting matter?  Absolutely, because the illusion of power provided by voting encourages buy-in from the populace and reduces the likelihood of violent regime change.

I think anytime actual vote totals elect a candidate or pass/fail ballot issue it matters. If everyone eligible for voting actually voted, one would think the elected offical's actions would reflect the ideas of the folks who voted for them, and if it was close, the candidate may pander a bit to the minority to be reelected next time.

Presidental race, nope due to the electoral college. It's easy to predict which states are blue and which are read. If we went to a popular vote for president, probably never be another GOP president.