Why local elections matter more than the presidency - eviltoast

This is US focused but the principle of being involved in local issues is universal to all democracies.

Can I rant for a minute?

Why does every thread about voting devolve into bitching about the flaws of the Electoral College?

Fun fact: the Electoral College only pertains to the Presidency and there’s almost nothing you can do about that directly.

Think local, that’s where you can make a difference. Your local school board has the power to either support students or drive them to suicide. Local races frequently turn on a handful of votes.

So go ahead, sit out the election because the choices for president stink. I humbly submit that your superior moral stance may not be based on very firm principles. That trans kid down the block didn’t need your help anyway. /s

  • meyotch@slrpnk.netOP
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    8 months ago

    I certainly cannot disagree with you. I guess I’m making an argument about how an individual should spend their precious and limited time and emotional energy.

    How would you suggest a person get their state to sign the compact?

    • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Call and write your state legislatures. Try to get friends and family to do the same. If you know anyone in local TV, radio, or print media, you can try to get them to report on it. You could also write a letter to the editor of local papers. Join local social media groups and post about.

    • Kethal@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      I think voters should petition their local officials to change their local election systems to use some sort of proportional voting. Then we’ll get better local officials and we can keep pushing this system to higher levels.

      I don’t like NPV. I wrote about that in response to someone else, but in short, it’s the same mentality as allocating all electors to someone who wins only a portion of the vote, which is inherently flawed. It’s better than what we have now, but it’s a hard sell because people never want their vote to go to a candidate they didn’t support, so there will always be states that rightly don’t support it.

      • meyotch@slrpnk.netOP
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        8 months ago

        Excellent idea. That is more likely to be effective than waiting for it to happen nationwide first.

        Are you aware of any local efforts to do that? I’d love to hear of them.