• toastal@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    Both candidates are a joke & without voting reform it’ll stay as a cabal for the donor class, lobbyist, & corporations. It costs about $10 to mail my ballot to my very red-&-ain’t-changin’ domicile… so I’ll just keep my $10 & buy 6 made-to-order meals instead.

    • Gormadt@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Local elections are also very important and really need participation. Like if you wanted that fee for mail-in voting to go away that would likely be a decision made by local politicians.

      And without voting there’s no hope for change for the better

      Congratulations on ensuring our system has a harder time improving

      • toastal@lemmy.ml
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        8 months ago

        I would agree but I spent very little time in my domicile & haven’t set foot within US borders in years. Seeing that I don’t pay (local) taxes or otherwise participate in the local community or economy, I would argue it would be unethical if I did vote in a place that doesn’t represent me & I don’t understand too well—like voting straight ticket without looking into any candidates. Last time I did a mail-in, I only checked State-level boxes since those you can easily research online & are more broad-reaching than the local level where only locals should be casting ballets for their community.

        If I could vote on issues that actually affect me, I absolutely would—like FBAR reforms where you aren’t seen as a criminal for having more that $10k in a foreign bank where you actually have your address, tax reforms that took TurboTax out of the equation as the only ‘affordable’ option that actually lets you file with a non-US address instead of a no-service error, or Medicare/Medicaid reform that allowed vouchers or reimbursement for using services abroad rather than it being a money sinkhole you pay into your whole life, even if you don’t live there, but can’t redeem any care unless on US soil. These are never ballot measures & instead requires, ugh lobbying or a representative willing to champion these topics seen niche despite there being more citizens outside the US than some States in population.