In summary, the election show is informative for first-time voters. Although I am not a first-time voter, I enjoyed the information presented. However, the show has too much feel-good propaganda for "democracy in America" and "the power of the vote." To people familiar with "American democracy", such grandiose presentation is almost nauseating because democracy in America is almost an oxymoron.
I agree that it is important to vote (and I do vote) and to encourage people to vote. But to present "voting in the presidential election" as almighty is a little misleading given that:
- With electoral college, marginal votes in most states are basically meaningless. For example, long before the actual election, those who follow the news know that California and New York will go Democratic while Texas and Oklahoma will go Republican. I long for the day when presidential elections will be decided by a national popular vote - where everyone's vote will actually count.
- The 2000 election was decided 5-4 by the Supreme Court. Nine justices rendering the 100-million-vote election irrelevant - that decision spoke volumes about American democracy.
Even at the state level where elections are determined by individual votes (instead of electoral votes), the vote does not always matter. For example, our votes for state propositions matter ONLY when no one challenges their constitutionality in court, where one or a handful of judges can overturn the will of the people. Prop 187 in California is an example.
That said, while the show itself looks like a gratuitous advertisement for democracy, the concept of the election show is a good one, especially since many Chinese do not vote. Yet, the show should tone down the "effects/power" of voting. Being stirred enough to finally take the leap to vote only to find out that a judge has just made the final decision will make someone lose faith in "democracy" for a long, long time. After all, the larger the expectation, the larger the disappointment.
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