In Florida, Throwaway Votes Outnumbered Trump’s Victory Margin - Polidicks

[URL="http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/invalid-votes-for-president-spike-in-florida-outnumbering-trumps-margin-of/2311755"]Source[/URL] [QUOTE][B]Beyoncé[/B], [B]Tim Tebow[/B] or the Norse god [B]Thor[/B] for prez? Those were some of Florida's more unusual picks for president this past election. And the number of Florida voters who didn't cast a vote for either [B]Donald Trump[/B], [B]Hillary Clinton[/B] or any other valid contender spiked in 2016, apparently in protest over the ballot choices. A report released by state officials Wednesday showed more than 161,000 Florida voters who took part in the elections either at the polls or by mail didn't cast a valid vote for president. The "non-valid votes" include those who wrote in such names as [B]Mickey Mouse[/B] or [B]Bernie Sanders[/B] and others who simply left the ballot blank. It also includes those who voted for more than one candidate. All told, the invalid ballots outnumbered Republican Trump's margin of victory over Democrat Clinton of nearly 113,000 votes to clinch Florida's 29 electoral votes.[/QUOTE]

Lets be honest though Thor is hardly a fucking throw away vote if you want a dude that gets thing done... #ImWithThor [editline]2nd February 2017[/editline] [QUOTE]:zing::zing::godzing::zing: even one vote for "We Can Do Better.":zing::godzing::badzing::zing::zing:[/QUOTE]

throwaway votes should be banned, presidential elections should only feature valid candidates

Can't say I blame them.

[QUOTE=Judas;51769179]throwaway votes should be banned, presidential elections should only feature valid candidates[/QUOTE] you are far too in favour of the government just stepping in to deal with things you personally don't like we're on the same side of the fence but you want something that's nearly as authoritarian as what you protest. you wear violence on your avatar as a badge of pride, I don't think Nazi's are the least bit reasonable but I can't really see why your view is either, not in the climate we have

Idk, I think maybe if the victory margin is less than the throw-away/non-vote/shitpost-vote count a re-vote should take place once, with the invalid count broadcast along with the re-poll date. It's not 100% that all of these people would have voted Clinton or Trump, and tbh yeah they wasted their vote but a second time would more accurately figure shit out since people that fucked off once won't probably fuck off vote again, and it would spur some people to actually get out and vote instead of not vote. Idk, just an idea, might help at least some, eliminating fptp would be better but you know, can't have that can we?

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;51769191]you wear violence on your avatar as a badge of pride, I don't think Nazi's are the least bit reasonable but I can't really see why your view is either, not in the climate we have[/QUOTE] Can we not turn every thread into an argument about Judas' Avatar? [QUOTE=HumanAbyss;51769219]this is literally the first time I have ever brought it up[/QUOTE] Not just you, but it has happened in so many threads before.

[QUOTE=ReligiousNutjob;51769214]Can we not turn every thread into an argument about Judas' Avatar?[/QUOTE] this is literally the first time I have ever brought it up [editline]2nd February 2017[/editline] Like please, turn the conversation into an avatar one, not the one I was making about the grander issue at hand here.

[QUOTE=Judas;51769179]throwaway votes should be banned, presidential elections should only feature valid candidates[/QUOTE] Honestly people who do throwaway votes just wouldn't vote then.

It's not about the avatar. It's about the idea at hand that we're ready to issue authoritarian decrees from the left to stop authoritarianism on the right. You know what we end up with? Authoritarians and not a good government for the people. it's not about an avatar, but the avatar is part of what the [I]issue[/I] is about.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;51769191]you are far too in favour of the government just stepping in to deal with things you personally don't like we're on the same side of the fence but you want something that's nearly as authoritarian as what you protest. you wear violence on your avatar as a badge of pride, I don't think Nazi's are the least bit reasonable but I can't really see why your view is either, not in the climate we have[/QUOTE] Nothing you said has any relevance to what he posted. How is it authoritarian to offer only valid voting options (including blank votes)? Is it more democratic to be able to waste your vote writing anything you want?

Hard to say whether the throwaway votes would have actually tilted it in Clinton's favor, ofc. Trump managed to alienate the hell out of Conservatives as well, so having throwaways from the right seems nearly every bit as likely. Just the same, this is basically why we tell you to never waste your fuckin' vote -- especially if you live in one of the few states where every vote actually matters. Trump's lead in each of the most embattled states came down to a razor's edge.

[QUOTE=Gogeta SS4;51769257]Nothing you said has any relevance to what he posted. How is it authoritarian to offer only valid voting options (including blank votes)? Is it more democratic to be able to waste your vote writing anything you want?[/QUOTE] So can you explain to me how you would go about implementing said law to prevent that without being incredibly authoritarian? Can you? How do you go about preventing people from [I]writing things on a piece of paper in a closed ballot box that is supposed to be secret[/I]

[QUOTE=Gogeta SS4;51769257]Nothing you said has any relevance to what he posted. How is it authoritarian to offer only valid voting options (including blank votes)? Is it more democratic to be able to waste your vote writing anything you want?[/QUOTE] He suggested banning spoiling ballets

[QUOTE=froztshock;51769233]Honestly people who do throwaway votes just wouldn't vote then.[/QUOTE] It's showing your dissatisfaction with the system, I'd rather have people write something dumb in instead of not showing up at all.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;51769263]So can you explain to me how you would go about implementing said law to prevent that without being incredibly authoritarian? Can you? How do you go about preventing people from [I]writing things on a piece of paper in a closed ballot box that is supposed to be secret[/I][/QUOTE] It's not like Judas or I are advocating for an armed KGB officer in every voting booth you know. Maybe something more like how it is with electronic voting, where your vote is valid only if you pick either a candidate or vote blank.

[QUOTE=Gogeta SS4;51769292]It's not like Judas or I are advocating for an armed KGB officer in every voting booth you know. Maybe something more like how it is with electronic voting, where your vote is valid only if you pick either a candidate or vote blank.[/QUOTE] But I don't know that. You're advocating for a law, which are usually enforced through the government, and police, and other branches of said government. You're telling me that the best, most democratically freeing option we have to resolve this problem is to prevent people from writing on that piece of paper. Okay, so you want to just say "fuck it, no more paper, use an electronic voting booth". No, and I really shouldn't have to state the clear and evident dangers that come with a purely electronic voting machine. Now if you're not saying "lets switch to computers" then what are you suggesting? If we are to keep paper ballots, is that not what you're suggesting? How else will you control it?

[QUOTE=Judas;51769179]throwaway votes should be banned, presidential elections should only feature valid candidates[/QUOTE] throwaway voters wouldn't have voted for a valid candidate anyway

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;51769263]So can you explain to me how you would go about implementing said law to prevent that without being incredibly authoritarian? Can you? How do you go about preventing people from [I]writing things on a piece of paper in a closed ballot box that is supposed to be secret[/I][/QUOTE] he was probably making an emotional response without precisely working out the logistics of what he said tbh

[QUOTE=Mining Bill;51769339]he was probably making an emotional response without precisely working out the logistics of what he said tbh[/QUOTE] part of my point knee jerk responses are what generate a lot of "authoritarian" type shit. It's probably how Trump is doing his job. if we want to oppose him and offer a better solution, shouldn't we... offer a better solution? [editline]2nd February 2017[/editline] If that means thinking about something before we make a claim or a statement, is that a huge deal?

[QUOTE=Jund;51769332]throwaway voters wouldn't have voted for a valid candidate anyway[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=froztshock;51769233]Honestly people who do throwaway votes just wouldn't vote then.[/QUOTE] As a Floridian who wrote in Vermin Supreme on his ballot, I can assert that this is exactly what would happen. Funny, seeing a thread in SH that's basically about you.

Some people do throwaway votes because they don't want to vote for any candidate in that election, but want to cast votes in other elections on the same ballot. Some machines make it impossible or at least hard to not vote on all elections in a ballot, but write-in candidates are easy. For example, my father cast his presidential vote for a Game of Thrones character this year, but voted on the House race, two ballot measures and like a billion county elections.

[QUOTE=Judas;51769179]throwaway votes should be banned, presidential elections should only feature valid candidates[/QUOTE] What if people feel that none of the choices given to them truly represent them, yet they still want to vote for Congress, state/county/city seats, propositions, etc? Do we just disregard them?

[QUOTE=Judas;51769179]throwaway votes should be banned, presidential elections should only feature valid candidates[/QUOTE] Throwaway votes are never going to go anywhere. You try to ban them people are just gonna stop voting entirely(Which will then spur people like you into making voting mandatory), or spit on the ballot, or not fill it out at all. Not only that, but forcing people to choose one of the 'valid'(I use quotes there because I honestly don't think either candidate was worthy of the post) choices would have had [i]at best[/i] no effect on the election. The answer isn't new regulations on what can be voted for, the answer is better candidates in the first place. The whole reason those people cast the ballots they cast is because the choices presented to them were a criminal and a lunatic, neither of which they believed fit to hold office. I would have cast one myself, probably for my pickup truck or my cat, because I didn't trust either candidate to do this country any good. I genuinely think a 320,000 mile old pickup truck would have been a better leader.

Didn't Clinton win the popular vote anyway, and the EC was the one that voted for trump?

[QUOTE=Digivee;51771911]Didn't Clinton win the popular vote anyway, and the EC was the one that voted for trump?[/QUOTE] Morons not taking the elections seriously is what got trump elected. The EC shenanigans highlighted a deeper problem with the system in America that people have known about for decades, but Trump won because so many people decided to be immature with their right to vote.

People in Florida unhappy with the current presidency that didn't participate in the election (seriously or whatsoever) should feel pretty bad with themselves

[QUOTE=X6ZioN6X;51770078]What if people feel that none of the choices given to them truly represent them, yet they still want to vote for Congress, state/county/city seats, propositions, etc? Do we just disregard them?[/QUOTE] Switch to run-off voting and implement proportional representation.

I think adding a vote of no confidence/none of the above would be good for all future presidential elections.

10k "adults" voted for a dead gorilla meme in this election. Hindsight is always 20/20 anyway, so crying about it after the fact accomplishes nothing.