this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2024
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I've been debating to myself whether or not voting for a third party candidate (Either PSL's de la Cruz or Green's West, regardless of my criticisms for both) would be the most "effective" use of my time in election season this year. The argument for "not" is that maybe voting at all is bad because it legitimizes this system, even if a third party candidate getting a record turnout would grab more attention (and piss off Blue MAGA cultists) than simply not going since it's not like abysmal turnouts, even by this country's historical standards, are newsworthy at this point. So I guess I have to ask how you people rationalize voting or not this year?

I fully understand that this is more symbolic than anything else and won't materially affect change for a while but it's still something to think about.

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[–] oktherebuddy@hexbear.net 56 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

I'm voting PSL in a swing state. I have a bunch of friends in safe dem states and when they get mad at me for this I ask them why they're voting for the dems there if it doesn't even matter, are they just in it for the love of the game (genocide)?

A bunch of them have offered to do the vote swap thing with me but I'm thinking not. To the extent electoral politics matters and voting is a feedback loop on politicians (very limited), biden won't be rewarded with my vote.

[–] nat_turner_overdrive@hexbear.net 59 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Do the vote swap, then vote third party anyway

[–] EmmaGoldman@hexbear.net 38 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

They were never going to follow through with it anyway. "vote swappers" never do.

[–] ZoomeristLeninist@hexbear.net 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

lol im picturing dem party operatives arranging vote swaps w multiple third party supporters, trading their one vote for thousands, and then still voting dem

i was googling vote swapping and apparently the hillary ppl kind of did that

[–] oktherebuddy@hexbear.net 27 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

The message is simple: “Friends don’t let friends protest-vote in swing states.”

as always the only acceptable protests are the ones without any possible effect

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

lmao wtf? did the Seattle times just copy & paste a press release straight from the company?

[–] Ho_Chi_Chungus@hexbear.net 27 points 9 months ago

the term "protest vote" makes me want to punch someone. Fuck you. This candidate represents my interests and yours doesn't. I vote for the candidate that advances my agenda. This is how liberal democracy is "supposed" to work. Run a better platform or eat shit. I owe you nothing

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[–] Aryuproudomenowdaddy@hexbear.net 27 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

I remember a Redditor getting really upset with me for not voting for Biden last cycle despite not being in a swing state, because Trump might rig the elections and it would be harder to do that somehow if people voted.

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[–] Quaxamilliom@hexbear.net 38 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Im writing in Hillary. It's still her turn.

[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 25 points 10 months ago

hillary-assassin Put the name on the ballot and drop it into the box slowly and nobody gets yaaas kweened

[–] a_blanqui_slate@hexbear.net 33 points 9 months ago

I'm writing in Bernie because it will make everyone left right and center of me mad.

[–] PorkrollPosadist@hexbear.net 32 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Voted PSL in 2020. Will probably do so again, but might consider someone like Dr. Cornel West if they have significant momentum and aren't cringeposting the whole election. Downballot it's all write-ins for dead revolutionaries. I sure as hell am not casting a vote for Gottheimer.

Beyond shit like keeping Moms for Liberty out of the school board, this shit is pointless. Pretty much all I'm doing is punching one in for the ghost of Ho Chi Mihn out of spite.

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[–] trabpukcip@hexbear.net 27 points 10 months ago

I vote third party because it best represents my beliefs. Usually Green or whatever crank leftist party makes it on the ballot. Being in a closed primary state takes most of the fun out of election season anyway

[–] Dolores@hexbear.net 25 points 9 months ago
[–] JohnBrownNote@hexbear.net 24 points 10 months ago (1 children)

i hope they both die (of old age, calm down fedposting )

or refuse to vote at all

if you're in this camp there might be a city council or school board election you should actually vote in.

[–] oktherebuddy@hexbear.net 33 points 10 months ago (3 children)

People talk about local elections a lot but 99% of the time it's like a race populated with five different real estate professionals

[–] JohnBrownNote@hexbear.net 23 points 9 months ago

i'll take the one who isn't a creationist over the ones who are for the school board. that's a case where flavors of liberal actually do matter.

99% sounds like a wild overstatement too. around here more often it's some unopposed county position.

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[–] artificialset@hexbear.net 24 points 10 months ago

i've given up on elecotralism

[–] psychoplantkiller@hexbear.net 23 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I'm voting for both candidates trump-drenched biden-troll . I even have my fake ID ready. My commitment to voting is stronger than any liberal could dream.

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[–] regul@hexbear.net 23 points 10 months ago

If only the presidential election were on the ballot I would care a lot less. But my state and local elections are actually pretty important to me.

In 2020 I voted for La Riva (PSL) for president.

[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 22 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I should do a mail in ballot with PSL and the local elections that matter but I won't.

[–] RamrodBaguette@hexbear.net 17 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Kinda wish the PSL put in more time and effort in local level election organizing than promoting their presidential ticket.

[–] JohnBrownNote@hexbear.net 13 points 10 months ago

yeah go get some of those unopposed county positions and shit so people are used to seeing your party on the ballot and then eat the democrats' lunch in the state elections they pay no attention to and all but gave up against republicans for 50 years.

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[–] came_apart_at_Kmart@hexbear.net 22 points 9 months ago

i've been voting third party in the general presidential slot since obozo's 2nd term run. it's hilarious. i mean, i'm already there making selections for school board seats, city council peeps, family court judges and heads of various state agencies-type shit anyway so the marginal cost of my time and effort of participation in the general prez b.s. is negligible. looking into the other races and their candidates is a far bigger hassle, even with the relatively efficient process i've cobbled together over the years.

what i like to imagine is the blue maga crowd looking at the PSL+green numbers on the day of tabulation and being incensed at all us cranks and assholes for going through all the hullabaloo and pageantry only to spike the ball and rip a wet fart on their latest disappointing savior. the humor only increases when the red vs blue horse race is tight. the nerve of wasting a vote on somebody under 100 that isn't a genocidal sex predator! and if some bozo tries to say shit about it IRL, i just shrug and tell them i'll vote for a dem presidential candidate as soon as they stop nominating the biggest horses ass in the stable. it's a low bar, but if they don't clear it they aren't trying.

[–] happybadger@hexbear.net 22 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Voting for my dog. If he wins, he won't commit genocide because he's a dog. That's the best option.

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[–] DengistDonnieDarko@hexbear.net 22 points 10 months ago

I'm voting for the PSL Votesocialist2024.com

[–] Abracadaniel@hexbear.net 21 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I'm voting Afromam. He has the best platform.

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[–] SoloboiNanook@hexbear.net 21 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I will vote PSL in my swing state or not at all.

2020 I voted for EATASS42069 so maybe they get my vote again as I still enjoy eating ass while smoking weed

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[–] HumanBehaviorByBjork@hexbear.net 21 points 9 months ago (2 children)

i think the claim that voting "legitimizes" the system on a wider level is probably wrong. like, maybe when revolution was a live option, when there were insane people burning down army recruiter offices and sending bombs in the mail but now in the long dark winter of the class war, the system does not need our legitimacy. the popular mandate is not taken seriously. people at all levels engage with the political process as pure spectacle, no one believes they have real agency no matter the options they're given.

the real strength of not voting is preserving your own spirit and awareness that we can still smash the shell of the egg and be born. It's refusing to accept into yourself the poison that is faith in a god that hates you.

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[–] PKMKII@hexbear.net 20 points 10 months ago

Either West or the PSL candidate depending on who’s on the ballot. I never thought the “voting at all only legitimizes the system” argument was valid because it makes the false assumption that TPTB are dependent on voter turnout to legitimize the system. The turnout could be twenty percent, they’d still push a “shining beacon of democracy” message and the consent will be manufactured.

Now I know there’s zero chance a third party candidate will win, but I’ve noticed that non-voters don’t even get discussed in the narrative. They may demonize third party voters, but at least they talk about them.

[–] red_stapler@hexbear.net 19 points 10 months ago

Lol Trump is going to win my state by like 50 points, I can vote for whatever third party I want.

[–] Ho_Chi_Chungus@hexbear.net 19 points 10 months ago

My vote is purely symbolic in a solid blue state so I'm just going to vote PSL. If the only thing I'm changing is the vibes then I might as well have them be socialist ones shrug-outta-hecks

[–] Self_Hating_Moid@hexbear.net 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

U vote for joseph stalin every time

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[–] robinn_IV@hexbear.net 15 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I'm voting for PSL's Claudia & Karina. I actually talked about it with someone today and they said my vote was useless. At least it's not a thank you note to Biden for the proxy war in Ukraine, bombing the Nord Stream pipeline then lying about it, the genocide in Palestine and Yemen, the continued U.S. sanctions regime, imperialism in Central & South America, and migrant concentration camps (so useful and pragmatic!).

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[–] Feinsteins_Ghost@hexbear.net 14 points 10 months ago
[–] Drewfro66@lemmygrad.ml 14 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I'm in the PSL and plan on voting Claudia and Karina. I've yet to hear any criticism of them or their party that isn't the nitpickiest bullshit I've ever heard.

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[–] Red_Sunshine_Over_Florida@hexbear.net 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I will vote 3rd party, probably for the PSL if they're on the ballot again in my state. Doesn't do much except as a weak act of protest. The Democrats can't guilt me into voting for Biden, considering that their neglect of the state party turned my swing state of Florida into a solid red one. That and all the chuds moving here from rural New York. If you're in a similar situation in the presidential race, vote for the person you feel best aligns with your values, knowing that it is a minor act of protest that has no real bearing on anything.

Congressional and state elections go nowhere in Florida, especially where I am. The ballot initiatives are the only important thing that voting might change. Abortion should be on it this year and I hope they can expand reproductive rights in my state.

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