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I'll never forget what third party voting gets us; additional fucking choices beyond the dominant two-party system, encouraging broader participation. When a Republican or Democrat candidate loses any race, it's common to see them use third party candidates as a scapegoat.
Except it doesn’t. Not in presidentials anyway.
Hey, just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't.
- a terrible gambler
Do you vote separately for your president in the US?
In Germany we vote for Parliament, whoever receives a majority of votes then gets the governmental mandate and their candidate becomes chancellor. Many people thought there never would be any other chancellor than from either the "social" democrats (SPD) or "christian" conservatives (CDU/CSU, also just called "Union"), until 2021 when the Green Party got so good in surveys we suddenly had three official candidates.
I do know about the "electorial college" nonsense, just asking what exactly the votes are aimed to be for, government or specifically the president.
In the United States we vote for people not party. Every ballot is different depending on the year and where you live.
This November I will vote for
- President/VP
- 1 of 2 US Senate seats (the other will be voted on in 2 years)
- My US House Representative
- My State House Representative
- A county board seat
- A city commissioner
- Retention of certain judges
- A school board seat
- A board member for our water district
If I choose to do so I could vote for multiple political parties across the ballot. Which is great because I might agree with my local green party of local issues but still want to vote for Democrats nationally.
I would really like to see us remove the electoral college, implement RCV or STAR. And move towards more of a proportional representation system.
Edit: Also worth mentioning that how elections are run also depends on where you live. States actually control how their citizens elect a President, I believe 2 are using RCV this year. Some states also allow local communities to choose how they elect local officials.
Primary Election, 1st Vote: One vote per voter to decide who represents the political party for the presidential election. Presidential Election, 2nd Vote: One vote per voter to decide who becomes the US President. The Electoral College and the stupid point system allows the minority vote to win. Yes, there are more names on the ballot for local government positions too. Technically, one could mix their votes with Democrat, Republican and other party candidates on the ballot.
I prefer the German voting system because it is based on the majority vote. FYI, I am allowed to vote in both Germany and USA.
Do you vote separately for your president in the US?
Yes, because they're the president not the prime minister(which is Speaker of the House in the US)
Ahh the illusion of choice. You vote third party and get another Trump presidency, but hey at least you got your morals, eh?
If you understand that the Constitution specifies “most votes” win the presidency, and you understand the Slaver’s College, and you understand a third party doesn’t exist yet that can accomplish those things, so that you understand you’re deliberately throwing a vote against a demented fascist rapist away then - okay.
That’s unfortunate.