[EM] Cartoon about single-mark ballots

[Ken B]

On 9/19/2016 3:57 AM, Kristofer Munsterhjelm wrote:
> On 09/19/2016 06:42 AM, VoteFair wrote:
>> I will use the image as part of an article I'm writing that explains why
>> voters in swing states should not vote for a third-party candidate.
> Come to think of it, why do so few people in non-swing-states vote for
> third-party candidates? It seems that if you're in a safe state, your
> vote doesn't matter, and so you can vote for whoever you want for the
> signal effect.
= = = = =
[KB]  Aside from the fact that realistically any single vote doesn't 
matter, IMO people in the U.S. vote D or R repeatedly because that's all 
they know.

Most mainstream media barely acknowledge the existence of any other 
candidates or parties.  So most people don't know how to think of 
anything except voting for one of the two major party candidates, 
assuming a race is even contested.  And if they do know, most of them 
are afraid they'll "help" elect the evil Other candidate if they don't 
vote for their major party candidate.

This year may be an exception in the Presidential race in some states if 
the polling for the Libertarian Johnson/Weld ticket turns into votes in 
the same proportion.  But in the past, there's very often been a pretty 
steep decline for a relatively popular "third party" candidate when 
people actually vote and think more about that evil Other.  That 
happened in Minnesota in 2002.  About three weeks before election day, 
Tim Penny, the Independence Party candidate, was leading in the polls 
with about 33%.  When the votes were counted, though, he received only 
16.2%.

And even though almost everyone considers Minnesota safe for Clinton 
this year, Democrats here are aghast at the idea of anyone here voting 
for another candidate such as Green Party candidate Jill Stein lest 
"Trump win", to quote them.  Fourteen years later, not much has changed.

   - Ken Bearman, Minneapolis MN