I have to respectfully disagree with this characterization of voting. Can a vote just be a statistic? Sure, if the voter doesn’t intend to convey any particular opinion, thought, feeling or idea when they go to cast their vote. But I also believe that a vote can most definitely be a political statement *if* that’s what the voter wants it to be.

The meaning behind a person’s vote depends primarily on the voter’s intended message, IMO. For instance, a person’s vote can be a “protest vote,” a vote cast for a third-party candidate simply to express their disapproval of the Republican and Democratic candidates. However, it can also be a principled vote intended to show support for a specific third-party platform (usually the Libertarian or Green Party platform).

A vote can also be an endorsement of a specific candidate, but not necessarily an endorsement of the party they belong to. That helps to explain why a small number of Obama voters switched to Trump in 2016.

With that in mind, I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this subject. But thank you for commenting! I appreciate it!