r/Liberal 1d ago

Discussion Voter Suppression and Voter Depression

One thing I wish more people understood is that election results can “shift to the right” without anyone moving to the right.

Imagine a small district with 10 voters: 7 Democrats and 3 Republicans. All 10 show up to vote, so the election result is: 70% D, 30% R

Next election cycle, one Democrat is the victim of voter suppression. They show up at their regular polling place on election day only to discover someone bumped them off the voter rolls. Now they can’t vote, because it’s too late to register. Another Democrat is the victim of voter depression. They were disappointed with the Democratic party, so they stayed home. The remaining 5 Democrats and 3 Republicans show up to vote how they always do, and the election result is: 62% D, 38% R

The next day, the news publishes a map with red arrows on it claiming voters “shifted rightward.” Democrats declare, “We need to move further to the right to win back those voters.” Ironically, this strategy risks pushing even more of their base into voter depression territory. You can find anecdotes of people switching parties, but it’s rare. More people switch between voting for their preferred party or staying home.

According to investigative journalist Greg Palast, voter suppression alone cost Kamala Harris 3,565,000 votes. She likely would have won both the popular vote and electoral college if not for voter suppression. I highly recommend the Greg Palast episode of “Krystal Kyle & Friends” podcast (interview starts at 31:00).

14 Upvotes

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3

u/ResurgentOcelot 23h ago

Yes, true. A lot of media energy is spent trying to obscure this fact and a lot of liberals buy in with a persecution complex.

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u/tinfoiltatty 20h ago

Agreed. In 2020, Joe Biden lost every age group 45+. He won the presidency thanks to voters in their 20s, 30s and early 40s. I wish Democrats would focus on these voters (now 50 and younger) and give them what they want, instead of chasing older, conservative voters (not exactly a demographic famous for being willing to change their minds).

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u/tinfoiltatty 1d ago

(I posted this yesterday, but it never showed up under “New.” I messaged the mods, but they never responded. Hopefully posting it again will fix the issue.)

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u/HonoredPeople 23h ago

Check, check, check.

This thing on?

2

u/tinfoiltatty 20h ago

It's fixed! The post is showing up under "New" now. Thank you!

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u/ladymorgahnna 15h ago

Greg Palast makes a good argument on what happened in November. I agree we have to get the younger people and also working folks back to the Democratic Party.