2012 Election thread

[Cactus 83]

Did you guys vote today?

[Cactus 83]

CNN's exit poll said voters under 30 made up less than 5% of the total voting population, just wow.

[AcuWill 45]

CNN's exit poll said voters under 30 made up less than 5% of the total voting population, just wow.

Same story always. The youth vote makes a lot of noise, but doesn't show up when it matters.

[TheREALBrooksThompson 157]

The only people voting were registered republicans. What do you guys expect?

 

The overall percentage of registered republicans under 30 can't be much more than 5%.

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

The only people voting were registered republicans. What do you guys expect?

 

The overall percentage of registered republicans under 30 can't be much more than 5%.

 

Also: primary voters tend to skew away from typical voting patterns.

 

There's likely not much here.

[Ryan the Magic Fan 253]

Happy to say I was one of those under 30 votes. I am ashamed of my generation.

[jec 427]

Happy to say I was one of those under 30 votes. I am ashamed of my generation.

 

I would vote if I could.

[TheREALBrooksThompson 157]

I am ashamed of my generation.

 

For not being republicans?

[Osprey 199]

For not being republicans?

 

Probably for not voting.

 

I just was reminded of a funny saying, "If you're under 30 and not a Democrat/progressive/liberal then you have no heart, if you're over thirty and not a Republican/conservative then you have no brain."

[TheREALBrooksThompson 157]

Probably for not voting.

 

I just was reminded of a funny saying, "If you're under 30 and not a Democrat/progressive/liberal then you have no heart, if you're over thirty and not a Republican/conservative then you have no brain."

 

Right, but the statistic wasn't that less than five percent of voters under 30 voted. It was that less than five percent of voters in a republican primary in florida were under 30. That's the least outrageous news that has ever been reported.

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

They really shouldn't be ashamed.

 

If the numbers here are accurate, then the youth vote is only 17% of all voters, and if we assume that the youth vote divides along party lines evenly with state averages, then the Republican Youth vote would make up less than 7% of registered voters in Florida. And that's assuming that party affiliation divided evenly amongst young people, which would fly completely in the face of national averages.

 

The national average for the youth vote of Dem to Republican is something like 55% Democrat to 25% Republican.

 

Which means that if Florida's youth vote aligns along National averages, than the actual percentage of Florida's eligible voters who are both young voters and Republicans would be just over 4%.

[TheREALBrooksThompson 157]

I also disagree with the notion that the act of voting itself is all that matters and people should be shamed for not voting.

 

If I'm a person who is wholly unfamiliar with the issues in question or the candidates for whom I'm supposed to vote, not voting in that situation is absolutely the right thing to do.

 

It is far less problematic for people to abstain from voting altogether than it is to cast uninformed votes just because that's what you're supposed to do. People who vote straight party tickets every time no matter what are more damaging than people who don't vote.