Youth analysis on the electoral system, civic duty, and the political circus
Editors note: This zine was written in spring of 2024 by first time voters. The aim was never to be a definitive account, but rather to be an accessible jumping off point. The powers that be at Big Baby Publishing acknowledge and understand that electoralism is a scam and that Total Liberation is the only option.
Welcome! This zine aims to educate and provide analysis on the electoral system, the current political climate, and whether there’s any real point to voting. This is written by young voters, for young voters. We aim to present a mix of objective facts with our own opinions and lived experience, and have no intention of being dogmatic. Please take what you like and leave the rest.
This zine is primarily distributed by Big Baby Publishing, a radical anarchist, antifascist zine distro run by two queer young adults in King County, Washington. We hope that you learn something in reading this, and join us on our mission to democratize access to knowledge and art. Please email us at bigbabypub@gmail.com if you are interested in distributing this zine free of charge through your area. We also have a similar length infozine on the Palestinian struggle that we are happy to share for distribution purposes. Please reach out to us for questions, comments, concerns, or for requests on topics for future publications. We can also be found on instagram at @bigbabypublishing.
In love, anger, and endless solidarity,
The Big Baby Publishing team.
Why do we hold elections?
We elect candidates to public office because it would be wildly inefficient to vote altogether on specific policies each time we needed to pass a law. By holding elections we theoretically gain trust for a specific candidate re:. Their ability to navigate government and make decisions in a way that aligns with our values. That’s the idea anyways. There are hopes by many for voting reform, as the system we are in is unfavorable, as we will go on to discuss, but for today, and this year, this is what we have to work with.
How do we elect the president?
To elect the president we use a system called the Electoral College— a system which is frequently debated and rarely explained. The Electoral College is a way to divide and count votes separate from the popular vote. The popular vote refers to the amount of individual people who voted for a given candidate, and is not the system we use to elect presidential candidates. The origins of the Electoral College come from the American South during the slavery era. While the North and South had roughly equivalent populations, a considerable portion of the South’s population was made up of enslaved Black people who were banned from voting— which meant the interests of Whites (especially plantation owners) would be overshadowed by the votes of the more liberal Whites and free Black people of the North. The system that followed allowed the states themselves to cast votes by their total population, instead of individuals voting. In the states though, it was only possible for land owning Whites to vote, meaning that while Black people were included in the population data, their votes weren’t cast or counted. This gave these Southern states a considerable edge, and skewed elections towards Southern values. And, while the issue is less obvious today, widespread voter suppression still gives disproportionate voting power to (especially wealthy) White folks— it is worth emphasizing that not as much has changed as we would like.
Another more palatable narrative of the purpose of the Electoral College is that it allows less populous states to have more political power on a national playing field where they, and their interests, might otherwise get overshadowed. This barely holds water though, as candidates rarely spend time in these small states, or in the particularly populous ones during their campaign. Most of the time on the campaign trail is spent in swing states. In most states, elections are winner take all, meaning that any candidate that gains 51% of the vote will take all of the state’s electoral votes— two states, Nebraska and Maine, have exceptions to this rule.
Let’s get into the mechanics of the Electoral College. A sum of 538 votes is divided between the states and Washington D.C, with each state getting three votes to start, and the rest divided up according to population— D.C. only gets three votes. It is important to note that the U.S. occupied territories, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not granted ANY votes. The votes are not conceptual but rather real people called electors. These electors are appointed by the state legislatures, and they meet and vote after the general election based on the votes that the people in the states cast. Therefore, the states are not directly casting their votes, but rather informing their electors on how they would like to vote. It is possible for the electors to vote against the wishes of their state, though it is not particularly common and many states have laws preventing this.
Because of the Electoral College structure, votes are not distributed equally amongst citizens. Since the system mandates each state must have three votes to start regardless of population, the Electoral College makes it appear that more people live in Rhode Island than they do, for instance, and far less live in California. Proportional to population, California is missing ten votes, Texas is missing six, New York is missing five, Pennsylvania two, et cetera. On the other side, states like Maine, Hawai’i, and Alaska have too many votes. This means that the vote of an Alaskan has more power than the vote of a Californian.
The two party system
In the U.S. we functionally have two parties, Democratic and Republican. There are other parties as well, the Independents, the Green party, and many others— there are communist and socialist parties as well, though those are paid no mind, both due to the two party system we inhabit, and to the aftereffects of McCarthyism.
When dealing with a large number of candidates, or really any number larger than two, it is very difficult to get a true majority. Generally speaking, a simple majority refers to a percentage over 51%. One of the issues we often run into is called plurality. If Candidate A got 30% of the vote, Candidate B got 25% of the vote, Candidate C got 20%, and Candidate D got 25%, then Candidate A would win. While that makes sense, it still leaves 70% of the population now represented by a candidate they did not choose. This is why the democratic and republican parties often nominate a candidate that is more center-left or center-right on the political spectrum, respectively, as a more centrist candidate has a higher chance of gaining a larger following. For instance, an extremist right candidate may make a centrist right candidate more interested in a moderate left candidate. This is called polarization, where the two main parties or ideas get further separated ideologically. We see this today as “old-school” republicans begin to reconsider their political alignment as the republican party continues to shift further right in the age of MAGA. One of the characteristics of polarization is individuals becoming far more attached to their party affiliations than the values held by either them or the party in question. By tuning into our personal values we can begin to combat this effect.
Due to the boiling down of the political spectrum into these two categories, many end up unrepresented by both political parties, pointing to numerous flaws in this system. Additionally, due to heavy lobbying, the two parties are often not as different as it seems, especially in regard to environmental and foreign policy.
How to talk about politics
At the time of writing, hot button issues include the genocide of Palestinians by Israel, the restriction of trans healthcare by the states, outlawing abortion rights in the states, and just recently laws were passed in Texas that could set a precedent for protest organizers to be liable for any damages whatsoever that occurred at a protest, regardless of whether that person was directly involved. All of which to say, there’s a lot going on, and we haven’t gotten to the debates yet.
I want to acknowledge that for many of us, politics are personal. I am grateful for the trans healthcare I receive, and it is vitally important to me that I continue to receive it. It is vitally important to me that those around me maintain their sovereign reproductive rights, and that those who have lost them get them back URGENTLY. These are issues that directly affect our lives, health, and safety. This can make it really difficult to hold dignified conversations about these issues PERIOD, let alone when encountering people who disagree with us.
I have found that we as people are all driven by the same things. We are driven by fear, we are driven by hope for safety and hope for love. Understanding this can help us facilitate these conversations with your weird great-uncle or coworker, and help show them your point of view. Consider leading with curiosity. Ask them what makes them think the way they do, what they are afraid of having happen, and what they want to have happen in their lives. Oftentimes, you and this person will have some things in common. Usually people want a secure and happy life, that’s human. By connecting over this, it gives you common ground which you can use to gain trust with each other. You can then share your point of view on the same matters. That said, it’s a two way street, the other person needs to try to understand you, and to work on a respectful dialogue. You are not required to give more of your energy than you’re comfortable with.
The young vote
Our electoral system sucks. To contradict myself, I want to make a case for voting, especially for young people, in the upcoming election as well as elections to come. To start, I want to emphasize that participating in elections should not be the beginning or the end of our civic and community duties. I encourage everyone to take meaningful and direct action in the causes that they care about— and this can mean a myriad of things. My hope for this zine is not to encourage a new generation of American “democracy” dickriders, but to rather shed some light on the nuts and bolts of the system, and to allow people to find their own narratives and meanings around the government we live under, and how to navigate it with dignity. What follows is my own experience and processing.
I am fundamentally an anarchist. I am a transmasc person. I receive both trans and “women’s” healthcare, both of which significantly improve my quality of life, if not saved it. The threat of these services being taken away, for me or anyone else, is terrifying. I am infuriated by the genocide of the Palestinian people, and of the ongoing financial and military support of Israel by the government, despite the vast majority of the U.S. calling for a ceasefire. I am not ignorant to the irony of the majority of the White men sending money to Israel swearing by such slogans as “never again” and “never forget.” I am disheartened by our representatives remaining firmly in the pocket of oil lobbyists, ruining the environment for us and any children we might like to have. I am infuriated again by the fact that all of this comes at the direct expense of economically oppressed Black and Brown people, both in the States and in the “global south.” My dream is for non hierarchical living, and for the total liberation of all peoples. From where I am standing now, that looks like a long way off.
Right now I am at a painful crossroads, where I must reconcile my radical ideology with the system we must live in. Here are the facts I am working with.
- The two party system is a smokeshow, and the amount of policies Trump and Biden share is greater than the amount of policies they don’t.
- Trump and Biden have different rhetorics, despite their similarities in concrete policy, and rhetoric is powerful.
- A third party candidate will not win this year.
- Far right candidates have succeeded the most in elections where young voters turned out the least. The fascist right banks on youth being too overwhelmed/disenchanted with the system to vote.
- I hate Joe Biden
- I hate Donald Trump
- Backing down in any way, shape, or form is not an option.
Despite my demographic markers that put me at a certain degree of political risk, I am also an incredibly privileged person in terms of Race, finance, and location. This means that the outcomes of the 2024 presidential election likely will not negatively affect me, at least for some time.
There is a potential for incredible, and relatively immediate, fallout for others. While Biden has failed us in many ways, failing to condemn in any real way the repeal of Roe v. Wade, the attacks by states on trans people, and by continuing to ignore the pleas of both the American and Palestinian people by continuing to send weapons to Israel, he maintains a moderate liberal rhetoric. I believe this may be the key. If Trump were to be elected, his violent and outwardly hateful rhetoric would continue to set the explicit precedent that there is room for fascist actions in elected office. This could hold consequences for women, trans people, and people of color in more conservative states who are already at the mercy of far right politicians that were elected on the basis of agenda driven gerrymandering.
I believe that Donald Trump and Joe Biden bear more similarities than they do differences, but the differences still count, and will be relevant for many, even if they aren’t for me and you. I worry for trans women in West Virginia, who will continue to face discrimination in their state, which will be validated and encouraged by the federal government. I worry for the trans kids, who will not have access to the healthcare they need to live and thrive, and the adults who will not have access if we continue based on the precedents we are setting now. I worry for the Black women in Mississippi, with the highest maternal death rates in the country, and I worry what will happen to them if the health of women and their children is even further deprioritized on a national scale. I worry for poor people, who are so hated by the far right on the basis of meritocracy— EBT is already too low to live on, if it is further cut, it will be impossible.
Politics are a collective experience and concern. In a country of over 300 million people, politics reach far beyond our immediate communities as well. The notorious apathy of young voters to show up at the polls/send in their ballots is explicitly a piece of Republican political strategy. To be clear, I am not telling you to vote for Joe Biden this November. Protest votes are a rational response to the nonsense we are seeing, and are a fantastic way to show disapproval for the two party system. I encourage everyone to do their own research and come to a conclusion that works best for them. Lastly, I would like to reiterate that voting (especially on a national level) is not revolutionary action. But it is a way to show up. Find ways to connect with your community meaningfully. Put in time and effort to the causes you care about, love, and believe in. Change will follow.
Thank you for reading.
If you would like to distribute this zine in your community, email us at bigbabypub@gmail.com. We are happy to either email you the file or mail you a stack of copies.
Our hearts are warmed by the commitment to learning and social advancement that we see in our own underground communities. May we remain strong, may we stay safe, may we be loved.
May 2024
Big Baby Publishing