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0 pointsThiez3y ago0 comments

How do you see this work in practice, and wouldn't it just lead to calculating the deltas between three evils, the third being abstention? How would this be better than getting rid of the first-past-the-post system?

We saw this is the Netherlands a while ago. There was a referendum about whether there should be closer relations between the Netherlands and Ukraine, and the options were "agree" and "disagree", but many people who were in favor of closer relations chose not to vote at all, hoping that the referendum would fail to hit the minimum turnout. So the minimum turnout was hit, and afterwards they were all whining about it, because they disagreed with the result, but had intentionally chosen not to vote.

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kodah3y ago

Your example isn't quite the same thing.

More or less, I want my lack of voting to be a signal to the Democratic party that, "Your vision is out of whack and does not serve me". Today, when someone doesn't vote the party and constituents try some mental gymnastics to put fault on people who don't vote as if they don't care.

sacrosancty3y ago

Vote for an independent. Any one. Just to show you did bother to vote. If enough people do that, the major parties will try to win those "stolen" votes back by offering you what you want.

bruce5113y ago

Some % of people don't vote because it's too much hassle. Not voting doesn't send a message, or more accurately it sends whatever message the receiver wants to hear.

I think voting is too hard, so it tells me that voting is too hard.

I'm a Conservative so it tells me the liberals aren't turning out because (as I know) their message is weak.

I'm a Liberal, so it tells me the exact opposite.

I think all politicians are bad, so frankly I don't care who wins.

You get the point. Not voting doesn't send a message. It sends every message.

Incidentally, if you care about the nuances within a party, then voting in primaries is where the real difference is made (traditionally also the voting with the lowest turnout.)

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