Because she barely lost in a few crucial states. It would have taken fewer than 80,000 nonvoters voting for her in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to flip the election.
While that’s actually a crazy low number of people, I’m not in one of those “swing” states. If my state’s electoral votes already go towards the party I want, what’s the motivation for me to vote? The possibility of my state flipping is there, but it seems unlikely. I’m asking because this exact question has been asked to me, and I honestly couldn’t find a better answer than, “you never know…”
It comes down to the tragedy of the commons. It’s unlikely to make a difference if one person does or doesn’t vote, but with a lot of people it can. Which state it is just changes how many people it takes.
Because she barely lost in a few crucial states. It would have taken fewer than 80,000 nonvoters voting for her in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to flip the election.
While that’s actually a crazy low number of people, I’m not in one of those “swing” states. If my state’s electoral votes already go towards the party I want, what’s the motivation for me to vote? The possibility of my state flipping is there, but it seems unlikely. I’m asking because this exact question has been asked to me, and I honestly couldn’t find a better answer than, “you never know…”
It comes down to the tragedy of the commons. It’s unlikely to make a difference if one person does or doesn’t vote, but with a lot of people it can. Which state it is just changes how many people it takes.