By voting for a candidate I am saying that I endorse them and what they will do. I'm partly responsible for what happens if they're elected.

And by not voting, you're tacitly approving everything the winner does because you didn't care enough to make your opinion heard and you're partially responsible for their actions. Past that, the reasoning is immaterial and the opinion won't be considered very highly.

In the US example, where only 60 some percent of the population chose to vote, millions of people didn't care enough to prevent trump, so they tacitly approve of it because they chose not to show up. Because of the way US voting works, it defacto helps the right, and is why the right is the only ones this century who won while losing the popular vote.

Usually no candidate on the ballot comes even close to meeting those criteria. And you might argue that's not what voting for a candidate means. But that's definitely how it's received

Not taking action when you have the ability is an action in itself, and non-voters don't get to shirk responsibility for the outcome when they also made a choice to let the masses decide. No candidate is perfect, and if you let perfect be the enemy of progress, your opinion isn't worth jack.

Someday maybe you'll realize the world is extremely complex, that you've been living in a bubble, that you meant well but were lied to

Nah, when one party is literally snatching people off the street, and we knew this would be the result, there is no nuance to be found.

The lesser of two evils is still evil and does evil things.

So let the greater evil win, right? Fuck everyone who will suffer and die because the alternative doesn't have clean hands, correct?

Voting is literally the trolley problem, and so many people show they'd gladly let thousands die so they don't have to have a hand on the lever.

Voting becomes a lot harder when you own the consequences.

Lol, peak fucking copium. But nonvoters love to find anyway to justify letting the worst of us take control again. Weak people love not doing anything and taking the high road to do so. It's really sad and pathetic, but exactly the mentality I expect to see

Maybe read your comment in a few years when you've had a chance to grow up and realize that this is an evil world when you refuse to try to make it better, even if making it better means preventing it from being worse.

I'm very glad I don't live in a place like Australia where I'm forced to vote for someone that doesn't represent my values.

I'm glad I live in Australia where our democracy is much more representative of the will of the people rather than just those who bother to show up. Firstly, while it is compulsory to show up and get your name marked off, you are totally free to leave your ballot paper blank or draw a massive veiny dick on it (and if you number the boxes correctly it'll even be counted). Secondly, because we have preferential (ranked choice) voting you can vote for the candidate you want to vote for without throwing your vote away. Your vote is an expression of preference, not a declaration of absolute loyalty and support.