But it's not a close election. Not even remotely.
According to the Federal Register, the United States' Voting Age Population (VAP) is roughly 255 million.
For the election to be close, most of America needs to participate. In the 2020 presidential race so far, roughly 146 million ballots have been cast. That's a difference of 109 million. That's 109 million Americans who could have voted but who chose not to. That's 109 million Americans who looked on as children were locked in cages, as black people were murdered by police, as peaceful protesters were arrested without cause, as over 230,000 Americans died of a preventable pandemic, and who just did not care. They shrugged their shoulders and said "Whatever".
109 million Americans is roughly 42.7% of VAP, or rather close to half of our voting age population. Nearly half of America can look evil in the face and yet not give enough of a damn to fill in a circle on a piece of paper and drop it in a box.
But more to the point, the "votes for nobody" cast by these onlookers outnumber the votes cast for either candidate by a large margin; no candidate even comes close to defeating their apathy. These uncast ballots are the real "winners" of this election and the rest of America loses no matter the outcome.
Edmund Burke most certainly did not say "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing," though it has become a cliché of our time. But I object to this conclusion. If evil exists, those who do nothing against it are not good people.
Now, to be fair, the turnout in this election is much higher than in previous elections. That's something.
Category: