Does My Vote Matter?

• “Yes”

  

  “Letting Your Voice Be Heard”

• “Objection”

  

  “But Will One Vote Out of 44 Million Matter?”
  

But Will One Vote Out of 44 Million Matter?

Art Carden

Economics Professor, Rhodes College

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To the extent that we're debating whether a vote will "matter," the answer is still, in this case, "no:" a single vote is unlikely to be decisive in virtually any election, so the motivation for voting has to be different.  If one is voting in order to signal preferences or to add legitimacy, that's fine.  However, a single vote will still not influence the outcome of the election.

Next Argument

"Yes" Rock the Vote

• Letting Your Voice Be Heard
  1
• Independent and First-Time Voters are Proving Pivotal in This Election
  0
• A New Electoral Map Has Brought Youth Voters Into the Spotlight
  0

"Yes" League of Women Voters

• One Vote Can Make the Difference - Will It Be Yours?
  1
• Why Should You Vote in the November 4 Election?
  1
• Why Vote? Your Legislators and Governor are Deciding...
  1

"No" Art Carden

• It Depends on What You Mean by "Matter"
  2
• Electoral College: Your Vote Matters Less in Presidential Elections
  1
• Your Vote "Matters" as a Signal of Your Policy Preferences
  1
• Not Everybody Thinks This Way, So You Can Take Others' Votes as Given
  1
• Evidence Suggests That Voter Errors are Systematically Biased
  1

"No" Rob Nelson

• Face the Facts. Increasingly Your Vote Doesn't Matter
  1
• Every Vote Gets Counted, But Often it Doesn't Really Count
  1
• There are Reasons for Low Voter Turnout...Apathy is the Least of Them
  4
• Voting out of Obligation is Worse Than Not Voting at All.
  1

Most Objections

• One Vote Can Make the Difference - Will It Be Yours?
  1
• Why Should You Vote in the November 4 Election?
  1
• Why Vote? Your Legislators and Governor are Deciding...
  1
• Letting Your Voice Be Heard
  1
• Independent and First-Time Voters are Proving Pivotal in This Election
  0

Does My Vote Matter?

• Yes
• No

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