Maybe a really dumb question and I’m not from the US but why did Hilary lose in 2016 when she had more votes than Donald Trump? That doesn’t really make any sense to me
Because we have this stupid thing called the electoral college. Basically, each state has a certain number of votes, based (roughly) on population (its a whole other issue), and the states’ votes are cast for whoever won the most votes within their state (barring rogue electors and the few states that use proportional representation for votes.) Theres a total of 538 votes, and all that matters is winning more than half of them. This has made the winner of the popular vote lose the election 5 times (though in 1824, it went to the house of representatives for a final decision because no one had a majority.)
To summarize: not a dumb question, VERY dumb answer.
The government should partner with McDonald’s and offer a free double cheeseburger with proof of voting.
Election Day should be a national holiday to give folks a chance to vote.
Who would run the polling stations and run public transit?
You don’t have public transit on national holidays and Sundays? Next you are going to ask who is going to work in hospitals and restaurants
Those deemed necessary could be given a day off to early vote.
c/dataishorrifyinganddepressing
If it makes you feel any better, the trend looks like more people are voting as time goes on.
As crazy as it is, Donald Trump appears to have been the single largest motivator to vote in American history. Either him or Covid.
He has definitely motivated me to vote twice, and for the rest of my life I won’t miss an election. Seriously. I had voted before, but I’d sit it out if I was too busy or I didn’t particularly like either candidate.
I have happily voted for Mr. or Ms. Not Trump twice. Now I also have to vote for Mr or Ms Not Influenced by Trump every chance I get too.
I would also like to see a similar graph for mid-term elections. Do the winners even get 10% of the eligible votes?
Should split this out by electoral college votes/states where the ‘did not vote’ could actually have made a difference. This is great info but also a bit misleading cause votes in swing states have more of an effect than increasing votes in deeply blue or deeply red states. The US president is not selected by a national popular vote. See on the chart how W Bush won the election but Gore had the popular vote, due to how the electoral college works.
Not discounting that more people should vote. I wish there were a national holiday in the US for everyone to get out and vote. But some votes matter more than others, depending on where you live, and this chart misses that nuance.
There is a map like that out there, if I remember correctly like 40+ states had “did not vote” win…
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I’ve never understood why there is a voting system where the one with most votes can lose.
They usually justify it by saying it’s to prevent the tyranny of the majority (two wolves and a sheep biting on dinner).
But a case could be made that it’s a way to keep the elite entrenched.
The founders were a gentleman’s club. Which is basically a fraternity. They made up rules that made sense to a bunch of frat boy farmers with enlightenment libraries.
I wouldn’t call them farmers. Partly because a variety of wealthy professions were represented and mostly because the ones who called themselves farmers didn’t do any farming, they forced enslaved people to farm for them.
