Good morning!👇

The Anarchist Library

On choosing to abstain from elections

Yavor Tarinski On choosing to abstain from elections September 12, 2024

"If abstention rates are embedded in the final result, the[n] we get to see that the “majorities” that get to form governments are actually often also minorities. In this way, outcomes will show the percentage each party gets not on the basis of all who have casted a ballot, but on the whole of the population (including all those who find it meaningless to vote). Thus, the oligarchic nature of the present system can further be underlined. Let’s take for example the Greek parliamentary elections of 2023. There the first party won with nearly 41% from those who casted a ballot. But when considering the record-high abstention rate, which at these elections was over 47%, then you get to see that the winner got only 21,4%. Thus, it becomes clear that even in terms of representative parliamentarism, the government formed has barely any legitimacy as it is based on the electoral “consent” of less than one fourth of the country’s population. In any case, there is no electoral short-cut to social change. To continue insisting on electoralism is counterproductive and shows detachment from reality."