AnarkittenSurprise t1_iwcmemn wrote on November 14, 2022 at 5:32 PM

Reply to comment by spaceofreason in The ethics of voting for the 'lesser of two evils' by ADefiniteDescription

I think this is an argument only considering the short-term impact. Withholding votes sends a signal that your vote is available, but no one has attracted it with their platform.

In the future, if the issues important to a vote witholder are common enough, it's reasonable to expect that a candidate will emerge from that population in the future, or recognize the niche and cater to it.

spaceofreason t1_iwdlfc9 wrote on November 14, 2022 at 9:19 PM

I think that signal (that your vote is available, but no one has attracted it) only "fires," though, if there's evidence the two major parties care -- i.e., that they work hard to win back your vote. Not really sure that's the case (the Democrats could care less that they don't get the vote of many Marxists in blue states, say), but maybe there's some evidence I'm missing.