Reviving Civic Duty: Why Votes Matter and How to Engage the Disengaged
Jerremy and Dave explore civic duty as a virtue, spotlighting guest Tyler's take on voting as personal integrity and Rob Richie's push for ranked choice voting. They dissect why many—especially youth—skip elections, proposing bold shifts like making voting "cool," mandatory participation, incentives, and a national holiday to transform apathy into action and amplify every voice in democracy.
Timestamps:
- (00:00) Reflections: Barriers and Hopes for Voting Reform
- (06:31) Voter Apathy: Unpacking Why People Skip Elections
- (09:49) Impact Factor: The Real Power of Individual Votes
- (10:32) Electoral College Critique: Weighing Its Role Today
- (13:11) Engagement Boost: Ideas to Make Voting Accessible and Fun
📢 Solving America’s Problems Podcast – Real Solutions For Real Issues
Transcript
Jerremy probes Tyler's virtue-driven view of civic duty, as
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:Dave spotlights ranked choice voting's
power to shatter pre-decided races.
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:But if 87% of elections lock in before
voters even show, how do everyday
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:frustrations turn into real change?
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:Jerremy: I re-listened to some of Tyler's
episodes, really just yesterday and.
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:I like that guy, man.
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:I love me some Tyler.
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:He lives in Vegas.
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:I'm excited to hang out
with him again soon.
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:Dave: Fantastic.
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:Jerremy: Yeah, just really cool guy.
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:He just had a, he was very connected
to what he would feel like was like
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:the moral endurance of this country.
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:His, he had a big emphasis on
individual integrity and kind of
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:reframed voting as a reflection
of personal virtue, which I liked.
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:It was really nice.
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:Yeah.
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:Dave: this is, that's gonna change
behavior more than anything else,
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:is if we make it cool to vote,
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:And we make it about, your.
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:To be the best person that you are.
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:You are, part of your, part of the
areas that you work in are your
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:community, yourself, your health,
your mental, your spiritual, all
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:of these components are part of it.
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:And one of them is civic.
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:And I don't think we spend
any time talking about how
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:we're feeding our civic soul.
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:and I think bringing that back
to things that you talk about
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:all the time is education.
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:Growing up I did in my day like we
did do like we had civics classes,
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:like we, we talked about history,
we talked about, civic engagement.
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:We did a pledge, allegiance to the flag.
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:Like the, these things were, they
were part of being, just learning
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:about who we are and what our
responsibilities were as citizens.
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:And I think.
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:Making it cool to vote and ensuring that
people are like, like this is important.
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:And it's a thing then that in itself,
without, even with a holiday, I
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:think that in itself would be really
helpful to just say, Hey, vote.
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:Jerremy: Yep.
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:Dave: And I think
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:Jerremy: I,
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:Dave: from Tyler, right?
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:Jerremy: yeah, I did.
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:Man, you can't vote your way to virtue.
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:I just, I liked it and I dug him.
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:He was a cool dude.
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:Good energy.
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:Especially on this topic, and I think
a lot of his, followers and listeners
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:enjoyed him being on the show.
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:And then you had your homie Rob Richie.
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:Dave: Oh I just, I'd reached out.
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:I, that was the first
time I'd met Rob too.
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:I'd got turned on to, an organization in
California that had a bunch of national
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:advocates on voting and voting reform.
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:And I reached out to everybody that
was on the panel I got connected
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:with one, one group Nick, he wasn't
able to join us just because our, the
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:timing of things just didn't work out.
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:But Rob was like right there,
and I was super excited to have
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:Rob because he, he's a, he is an
absolute rockstar in the field.
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:And I love people who are
like famous in their vertical.
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:It's like I have a buddy
I grew up with him.
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:He is, brother from another.
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:And he's really big in
the pinball community.
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:He's done a lot of technology in there.
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:He's he does a lot of the programming.
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:He does a lot of, and he is
done it for years and years.
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:And like the pinball community is fierce.
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:And I had no idea.
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:I had no, I knew nothing about them.
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:And then we were walking around in
Vegas a few years back and he, people
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:were stopping him for his autograph.
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:And I'm like, what is going on?
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:And he goes yeah, like I'm super famous
in this one, one area and they're just
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:rabid fans, so people want my autograph.
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:I'm like, that is the coolest.
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:So like Rob is, a long time advocate
and a long time policy wonk.
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:He's, he lives and breathes this and
I just, makes me happy to know that
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:people like Rob, they're out there and
they are making a change like his work.
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:Led to actual reforms in New York State,
in Alaska, in, in, in a variety of
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:areas for, proportional representation
and for ranked choice voting, which
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:more complicated than they are.
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:But I think that both of those things,
if we can get people to wrap their heads
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:around it, I think, those are cool too.
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:I don't know how
politicians feel about them.
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:I have a feeling that if it somehow
will, if they think that it might hurt
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:their chances of continuing what they're
doing, that they seem to be against it.
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:But like in California, I had ranked
choice not here in, in in Florida.
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:What's the deal in Nevada?
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:You know what?
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:haven't voted in Nevada lately, have you?
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:Jerremy: I haven't, no.
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:Yep.
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:So I'm not a hundred
percent entirely sure,
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:Dave: You really got to talk to him.
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:I was hanging on for dear life.
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:What was
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:Jerremy: bro.
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:Glad you're alive.
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:Dave: Yeah,
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:Jerremy: Glad you're
live after that episode.
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:I just, yeah, to your point, I like
the people that focus on a niche
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:and the guy drilled down into it.
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:He is, he's in it.
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:And I think I, I believe I talked a
little bit more about the proportional
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:voting than Rank Choice, but at the
same time it's, it really isn't that
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:hard because most people, they do feel
like they only have one real vote.
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:Like they're always saying you're
voting between the lesser of two evils,
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:Dave: yeah.
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:Jerremy: they're like, I don't really
wanna vote for either of these people.
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:But if some, so if someone's like,
all right, I really actually kinda
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:like this person, so I'm gonna
put them as my number one vote.
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:But you know what?
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:Trump, he's a scallywag, but
he was a scallywag already
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:for four years previously.
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:I'll put 'em as number two.
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:And so then it's like, all
right, you're really putting
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:the candidate that you want.
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:Then there's still Trump there.
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:And so you're still listing that vote.
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:And if everyone does that and they
just mix and match who number one is,
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:they're slowly getting to actually vote.
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:But then number two wins.
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:'cause that was a majority
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:Dave: Take all right?
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:Like we're
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:The post.
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:That's how we are.
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:And
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:Choice changes that I, it was
shocking to me to, to see the number,
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:the number that 87% every single
election are already decided before
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:you even get to the ballot box.
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:Dave: Because of the, and they're
effectively decided at the primary.
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:If you win the primary, it's
what happens in New York, right?
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:If you're a Democrat in New York
City and a mayor, you're gonna win.
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:there's, that's, it's
already been decided.
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:Which, correct me if I'm wrong,
I think that's the exact opposite
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:of what voting is supposed to do.
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:Okay.
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:Just making sure.
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:Just trying to remember that.
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:Yeah, man.
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:It's.
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:It's very unique and it's very fun.
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:It's very interesting.
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:Other than the general ones, I think we
probably have an understanding of what
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:surprised you the most about why people
don't vote from the entire conversations.
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:Dave: Did we talk about that?
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:As I'm thinking about it, it just
seems know that people in my life who
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:do not vote, they are disinterested
in politics to begin with.
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:It's not, it's not on their radar.
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:They don't follow it.
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:It's not their thing.
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:They don't, they're not
up on current events.
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:It's just not on the radar, right?
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:They live their lives and they
have full lives without any really
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:knowledge of what's going on in the
world, which God bless 'em, I think
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:they'll probably outlive us all.
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:But the piece that goes with
that is my vote doesn't matter.
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:Jerremy: Yeah,
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:Dave: What about you?
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:What why do you think people don't vote?
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:Jerremy: Yes.
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:So the reason I don't think people
don't vote other than those two
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:probably really just is the feeling
that it, the vote doesn't matter.
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:So it's less like probably back
more to the disenfranchisement.
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:They're like, Hey, they already feel
like a 7% of it's rigged anyway.
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:So it's pro, if you live in a red state.
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:Dave: Yeah.
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:Jerremy: Tennis, Tennessee,
Kentucky, and you don't like a
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:Republican, what are you gonna do?
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:So it's almost like they're not gonna
show, they're not gonna show up.
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:'cause they're like, oh I'm not
even gonna, my vote doesn't matter.
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:It's not gonna, it's not gonna win.
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:Dave: yeah, but Barack Obama won
Tennessee, so I, you know anybody who's
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:saying that, I'm like, I don't know, man.
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:I, I particularly with with who's
defining what's a Republican and who's
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:defining well and the general dislike of
the Democrats right now, the corporate
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:Democrats are at record low approval.
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:So they are starting their
transformation that the Republicans
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:started effectively in 2011.
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:Which was the tea parties, that started
re reforming and refactoring what
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:the Republicans thought they were.
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:And then Trump blew it all up.
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:And so like the shape of the Republican
party today and the shape of the
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:party, with Mitt Romney, those are two
different, those are alien species,
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:And they're still doing their evolution.
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:But, all of those deep red states were
purple or Democrats for years and years.
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:And it was the, it was the
Democrats that lost those states.
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:I hear it when somebody says my
vote doesn't matter because I'm
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:a democrat in a red state, or
I'm a Republican in a blue state.
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:I don't know, man.
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:Particularly if we're talking
about rank choice voting and
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:the fickleness of voters.
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:I don't know.
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:Jerremy: I think I, I think it's
just a realization that we can,
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:you have someone that just keeps
championing the idea, right?
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:You just make it cool.
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:You start making it cool to vote.
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:People will just take it away.
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:Like in, you have the holiday and goes,
Hey, regardless if your, who cares?
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:If you don't think your
vote matters, it's.
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:It's just cool to do, just do it.
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:It's just fun.
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:You get a barbecue and then I
think more people will kind, they
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:probably will end up doing it.
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:One thing that we didn't talk, I.
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:Dave: For every person who
says, my vote doesn't matter.
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:I literally listen to a state
representative in Virginia.
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:'cause Virginia has a vote.
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:This, like this time they're an
off, they're an off year vote,
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:for governor and for their state.
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:And I heard one of the state reps
say, yeah, I won my first district.
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:Nobody thought I would ever
win and become a state rep.
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:I said, she said, I won it by 11 votes.
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:And I'm like, okay there, there your vote
can really count, and we were talking
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:about the hanging chads here in Florida,
like every vote actually did count if
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:you voted in in Florida in, in, 1999.
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:So it's I, I.
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:I, I'm I'm gonna hear people
saying, yeah, my vote doesn't count.
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:But I think that those are people
who are already not civically
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:engaged and we gotta make it
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:Jerremy: Yeah,
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:Dave: It's
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:Jerremy: exactly.
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:Dave: it may not count and you're
like, you may not believe it
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:counts, but it's gonna be cool,
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:Jerremy: yep.
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:Exactly.
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:It's gonna be a barbecue, bro.
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:We're gonna have a party.
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:It's gonna be really fun.
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:Yeah, I like that.
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:Two things we didn't
actually talk about at all.
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:I don't believe, unless
I just really spaced out.
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:Should we, thoughts on electoral college?
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:No one said that at all.
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:Dave: we
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:Jerremy: Do we just get rid of
that and just do a popularity vote?
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:For let's, obviously we're
talking federal, like primary
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:presidential candidate.
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:Best person wins.
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:Go out to the ballot box.
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:Get rid of the electoral college.
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:Thank you.
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:Dave: I, I hear you and you run into the
same problem of small states don't matter.
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:Jerremy: They don't matter now
with the electoral college.
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:Dave: Yeah, because we have swing, states.
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:Jerremy: You got the big Exactly.
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:You got the big states.
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:They don't matter now.
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:Like Nevada with its four
votes, Wyoming, Montana, North
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:Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri
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:Dave: But if
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:Jerremy: Alaska, Hawaii.
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:Dave: but if
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:Jerremy: I.
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:Dave: just, proportionate first
pass the post, if we didn't have
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:rank choice voting, if we didn't
have, if we didn't have proportional
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:representation, it was just like
straight up popular vote for president,
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:then no one would ever go to Iowa.
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:There wouldn't be any point in it.
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:Nobody would ever go to Nevada, like that.
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:Nobody would show up in Arizona.
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:Everybody would just be camped
out, God forbid, in Florida,
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:New York, Texas, and California,
because nothing else would matter,
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:Jerremy: Maybe,
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:Dave: it?
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:Jerremy: Because it's just a popularity
contest, so it's it's a, it is just
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:a pure numbers game at that point.
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:Show up to vote because your one vote's
gonna be the, it is just a running tally.
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:I think if it was just purely a,
any one votes because we haven't
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:done it that way ever in America.
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:It's always been electoral college state.
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:Which to, to my knowledge, I don't
think we ever had just like a
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:puron, like who has the most votes?
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:Dave: Yeah.
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:Jerremy: There's always there.
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:Dave: It is literally in the electoral
college is in the Constitution.
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:We,
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:So again we probably prob
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:Dave: The idea was like, look, big states,
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:Jerremy: yeah.
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:Dave: to rule by, by, pop, the
tyranny of the of the majority.
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:We want to have, we want to have
representation from even the small states.
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:Yeah.
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:No, it's just interesting.
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:I just throwing it out
there as a fun question, but
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:Dave: How about
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:Jerremy: I,
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:Dave: I would go with that.
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:How about that?
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:Go back to the county method.
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:Jerremy: yeah.
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:Counties.
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:Dave: States don't matter.
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:It's now county by county.
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:By county,
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:Jerremy: I could dig that.
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:That'd be really fun.
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:Dave: yeah.
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:Jerremy: It'd be really nice if we
had the lines drawn for the county
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:so that we knew where they were.
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:Dave: Like
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:Jerremy: I feel like it
would just make it helpful.
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:So on
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:Dave: how soon before that they
would start redrawing the county
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:It's oh crap, I'm not
in Miami-Dade anymore.
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:I'm in Fairfax.
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:I'm like, oh, no.
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:Jerremy: oh, no.
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:That's a unfortunate
but very valid question.
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:Yeah, man.
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:This, no, this has been fun.
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:Again, I think what we have definitely
really understood is it probably
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:wouldn't be that much of a challenge
to just get more people to vote and
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:start hearing from more individuals.
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:And again, I think with a holiday.
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:People just start talking about
voting, making it, it's cool.
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:You should just do it.
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:It's really awesome.
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:It's gonna be a party that by
itself, we probably get, I would
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:say, 10 to 15% more participation.
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:'cause there's also people that
just, they gotta work dude.
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:And they're grinding it out and they
got the kids and they got the bills and
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:they got the mortgage and they got all
the things like, I'm not gonna go vote.
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:Who cares?
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:It's stupid, it's dumb.
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:It doesn't matter anyway.
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:Like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
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:I'm just not in politics.
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:I really don't care.
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:But if you make it a lot easier for
people to vote I, I think more people
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:would vote and by easy, again, I hear the
comments when I say, oh, but if you have
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:voter id, it's not gonna make it easy.
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:It's we can solve that
problem can easily be solved.
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:That's a
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:Four day solution.
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:Dave: Biometrics,
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:Jerremy: Yep.
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:Dave: Like I buy things on my
computer, it's we can solve the ID
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:thing that, that seems like way easier
than getting people to the to vote.
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:Jerremy: Yeah.
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:Dave: The big lever for me continues
to be national voting, holiday.
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:Sure.
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:We can get everybody an id.
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:I think that's great.
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:We talked about mandatory voting.
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:That feels very anti-American to me.
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:But I also feel like, I dunno
that sounds pretty good to me too.
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:I think it should be mandatory
Or is it a it's voting
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:Jerremy: I think
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:Dave: That must be exercised.
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:Jerremy: exactly.
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:I think it's a right.
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:I do think it's a right.
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:I don't think it must be exercised
though, like it's a right to own guns,
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:Dave: Right.
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:Jerremy: but we ain't forcing, we
ain't forcing everyone to buy guns.
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:Yeah.
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:gun with every voter registration.
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:Now you get a bunch of owners, you go, oh
man, you got so many voters showing up.
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:Dave: about paying people to vote?
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:Lot.
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:Vote for me, here's a hundred bucks.
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:But it's okay
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:Jerremy: every time someone
votes, they get paid.
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:Dave: You're getting a, you're
getting a, a gift card to Chili's.
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:If you show up to vote,
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:Jerremy: I love Chili's, bro.
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:Who doesn't love Chili's?
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:Dave: you get a blooming onion at the
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:Jerremy: Uhhuh.
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:I think that, that would
actually, would incentivize
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:people a lot more than you think.
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:That's why you thought it, but yeah,
it would, people would get pretty,
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:pretty pumped and amped by that.
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:Dave: Yeah.
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:Jerremy: Definitely don't hate that idea.
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:And a lot of people have asked
me, like from the, my presidential
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:race and presidential standpoint,
that is one of my goals or one of
385
:my ideals or beliefs is I believe
over the next seven to eight years.
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:I can and do have the ability to
speak to and educate and conversate
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:and converse with the large group of
individuals that do not currently vote.
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:'cause I right now in the US it's
let's just call it 90 million.
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:90 million.
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:That's 180 million.
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:So that means you got another,
that's half the country votes 50%.
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:So if I can go capture.
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:30% of the votes, the that 50% that
don't currently vote just 'cause it's
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:cool, it's exciting, it's unique.
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:I'm a great guy.
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:I actually care about you.
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:I was you, I'm from you.
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:We're gonna change the educational system.
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:Dave: yeah.
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:Jerremy: It's unique.
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:It's a right, it's a
privilege, it's an honor.
402
:It's virtuous, it's incredible.
403
:Let's all go vote.
404
:Dave: Yeah.
405
:Jerremy: then some of the
other 50%, I'll have to capture
406
:some of them mathematically.
407
:So then if you have one person gets
30% of the votes mathematically,
408
:that probably could be the winner
409
:Dave: It's,
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:Jerremy: based on our kind,
the way we cut the pie now?
411
:Dave: it's gonna be young
people over and over again.
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:And that showed up in our research
too, which is if you don't start
413
:voting young, you tend to not vote.
414
:If you've never voted, then you know,
once you get into your twenties, you're
415
:not gonna vote thirties, forget it.
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:Forties, what's voting?
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:And yet,
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:Jerremy: Yeah,
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:Dave: Like young people are the,
the current young crowd are, is
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:our largest population because
the boomers are finally dying.
421
:They can sway elections.
422
:New York right now is the demographics
are shifting wildly because a
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:Jerremy: time.
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:Dave: of young people are showing up to,
to vote for mayor and they never have.
425
:Getting young people excited about
their issues, I, I'd say that'd be
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:another reason why people don't vote
is it's the politicians are talking
427
:about things that don't matter.
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:And I'm feeling that now.
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:Like we, heard a lot of blah, blah, blah.
430
:We're gonna fix that.
431
:We're gonna do this, we're gonna do that.
432
:Promises made, promises kept, and
it's been just a load of, malarkey.
433
:Jerremy: I won.
434
:I had a bet that you're gonna use
the word malarkey in this episode.
435
:Dave: You got the bingo card on that
436
:Jerremy: Yep.
437
:Dave: was malarkey, but that's
the, that's the politicians
438
:don't listen to me mentality.
439
:Which I think is super valid.
440
:Because the things that are important
to most Americans, that they're
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:safe, that they have good education,
that they have a good job, that they
442
:have a brighter future, that they're
healthy, that they, you know, all of
443
:those things those table stakes those.
444
:And when you do everything but talk to
those things, then you run into problems.
445
:I think,
446
:Jerremy: Yeah.
447
:Dave: Like you're seeing a lot in
the current administration where they
448
:talked about those things that got
young people excited about those things.
449
:More young people voted Republican.
450
:And then at any other time this last
session and yet the exact things that
451
:young people are worried about ai yeah.
452
:That that's, we've just poured
gasoline on top of that.
453
:So okay.
454
:Uncertain future, interna, focused
on international, non-domestic.
455
:Yeah, that's, that keeps happening.
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:Tariffs.
457
:You're driving up my prices still.
458
:I can't afford a house.
459
:Like that, that's, that, that housing
affordability is at the top of most
460
:Jerremy: Yeah.
461
:Dave: thing.
462
:Alex: Jerremy champions capturing
the silent 50% through fresh appeals,
463
:as Dave ties low youth turnout to
mismatched priorities like housing.
464
:But their urgency builds toward a
raw edge—when promises ring hollow,
465
:how do voters reclaim the narrative?
