I often get indignant replies when I call U.S. elections free and fair. But it's like describing American drinking water as clean and healthy. It's globally true even though there are important and inexcusable exceptions, often with a racial basis. One doesn't exclude the other
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What I do ask is that people expand their mental definition of election tampering to include attempts to persuade people that their vote won't be counted, or won't be counted fairly. That kind of attack is far easier to carry out than actual tampering, and on a far bigger scale
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If you are concerned about election safety, I can't think of anyone better to read and follow on this topic than
@mattblaze (but maybe he can!)1 reply 3 retweets 9 likesShow this thread -
If you are following American elections from abroad, the important thing to know is that the process is local and so there are approximately 1,392,302 different jurisdictions and sets of rules. Being the world's oldest democracy means having a lot of junk in the legal attic
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You can call U.S. elections free and fair without endorsing any of the the anti-majoritarian features of the system. It's a narrow claim—a reassurance that every valid vote gets counted, and no other votes get counted. Without a general belief in this correct claim, we are sunk
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Replying to @Pinboard
You cannot credibly call an anti-majoritarian system fair. A child can tell you that in a democracy, the candidates and parties with the most votes should win. It's critical to vote anyway, in spite of this, and to achieve a super-majority mandate to implement fair democracy.
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You realize that our current voting system allows people to win with a plurality of support, not majority approval, right?
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Yes, that's what "with the most votes" means.
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The spoiler effect makes plurality-winner systems *profoundly* undemocratic. Elections are neither free nor fair if you are not free to vote your conscience and fairly represent your opinion of *each* of the candidates.
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In this election, I would prefer Vermin Supreme to win. I would be somewhat upset with a Joe Biden win, but vastly more upset with a Trump win. But I am not free to vote my conscience under our current system - I am compelled to vote tactically. Nothing "free" about that.
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This isn't dorm room debate about how the Man gets us, though. Free means nobody stops you from casting a secret ballot for the candidate you choose, and fair means every vote cast is counted. These are narrow claims even though the words are evocative of much more
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Thanks for your condescension.
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