If you are in a red state or a blue state, the best way to impact the 2016 Presidential election is not at the ballet, but by proxy. Create a list of all your friends and family in purple states; call, text and email them; and state your case for your favorite candidate, or against your least favorite candidate as the case may be.
The other way to impact the vote is by using mediums, like, well Medium. Rather than baiting the other side, or rallying support from like-minded voters, the objective should be to influence undecided voters in purple states. Democracy in action or a broken process?
Competitive contests drives voter turn-out
I ran an analysis of voter turn-out in from the 2012 election to see if there was a correlation between voter turn-out and the competitiveness of the state. As to be expected, the 9 battleground states had high voter turn-outs.
2012 Battleground States (Voter Turnout and Margin of Victory)
Notes on chart. In 2012, Pennsylvania was supposed to be a safe blue states, but was surprisingly close. In 2016, Pennsylvania is a hotly contested state and is bright purple.
Young voters stay on the sidelines in red and blue states
An uncompetitive presidental content in a state reduces voter interest. In particular, this keeps young and first-time voters from coming to the polls. The result is that down ballet contests and measures are decided by older, more active voters. The youth and less politically active citizens are forgoing their right to influence the outcome of these important state and local elections and issues due to their inability to influence the presidential race.
Presidential campaigns pour their money into a dozen purple states
The general election winners are correctly ignoring red and blue states and pouring all their time and attention into the few purple states. Millions of dollars of campaign donations are devoted to saturate the airwaves to win voters and trash an opponent. If every vote counted, the time, cost and energy to message and reach voters in all 50 states would call for a more grass-roots campaign. Candidates with the most passionate volunteers would have a leg up on solely, well-funded campaigns.
Popular count serves many benefits
The concept is simple.
- By moving away from an electoral vote, truly every vote counts.
- Young voters and new voters in all states, not just purple states, would be motivated to actively partipicate in our democratic process.
- General election candidates would need to have broad appeal to constituents in all 50 states.
- Campaign funding would be spread across the entire nation, making the cost of buying an election more difficult.
Every 4 years, those in non-competitive states find themselves sitting on the sidelines while Florida, Virginia, Michigan and Ohio voters determine who will be our next president. Voting in a blue or red state for the preferred candidate is as joyful as kicking a field goal with time running out to complete a 48–10 football victory. Sure, your team wins, but those last points did not play a significant part in the victory. What is even more hollow is voting against the preferred candidate in a blue or red state. Are we surprised that many voters choose to stay at home? Introduce popular vote into a close contest, and skeptical voters will be drawn into the democratic process. Voters will see how their votes directly dictate the leadership, and subsequently the policy and direction of this country. Do that, and young and disaffected voters will realize that each citizen has tremendous power and responsibility to ensure this nation is represented by the best elected officials. Our electoral college system is not achieving this objective.
Time to put the electoral college out to pasture and make every vote count.
