There is literally 0 chance the area I live in will be blue. Does me going out and voting actually do anything besides add to the popular vote tally?
Always vote. There’s always someone analyzing trends, and you don’t truly know where it’s heading until you get there.
I do somewhat understand since I moved to Massachusetts: I’ll get my preference regardless whether I vote. But it does matter, even if it’s just a trend: I was a bit disappointed Biden didn’t quite get 2/3 last time around: he won with only 65.6%. We can do better! My county only voted 71.5% for Biden and there were at least three counties better. We can do better!
At least as importantly, it does give me more freedom to vote third party, in the comfort of knowing my state’s electoral votes will all go toward the sane option. Historically we’ve had reasonably strong showings for third party candidates, but last time was only 2%
This is why the people who try to register as a different party to advocate for lesser evils are ultimately shooting themselves in the foot.
If the Democratic Party sees a region with 70% of voters registered as Republican they’re just not going to waste their time on it. They have no way of knowing 30% of those chuckleheads would vote blue and make it an actual competition if they had the option.
Vote. You don’t have to vote for Biden or Trump, you can write in a vote or choose a third party or independent candidate on the ballot, if your State allows it. Not for the reason of making practical change, because it won’t in a two party system, but to show the analytics, media, the ruling power that you don’t have to vote for the lesser of two evils. Anyone that says otherwise does not know what democracy means and supports a broken system through enabling. Local votes ate more important IMO, always vote for that. The more informed you are, the less likely you are to support a broken system.
Yes! It’s the total votes statewide that determines the winner (POTUS and Senator), no matter which areas of the state they come from. Besides that, a showing of more blue votes in red areas makes a bigger statement to powers-that-be, campaign analysts, etc. than blue votes in blue areas. Represent!
And as everyone else is saying, vote blue for every office on the ballot. The state, county, and city levels are just as important as the national level if not more so. Vote in every election no matter what, even if no one you voted for wins, it matters how close the races are so Dems know where to concentrate their efforts.
Always vote, no matter what. If everyone who said it doesn’t matter voted your red state might turn blue or at very least purple. Even if it still stays red it will be a sign that people are rejecting Republicans and could force change. Plus lots of races aren’t just for president and are local things which can be won with less then 1000 votes in many places so vote every time always.
Ohio is purple too though. It can go both ways as generations shift.