Competition can be decided by the tiniest of margins—something I learned the hard
way when I lost by $1 on The Price is Right. I honestly overshot it. The question was “how
much does $99 cost?” Elections can be just as close. Which is why I met with some politicians
who literally lost by a single vote. - Please vote!
[VARIOUS] Vote. - Just vote ‘cause it matters, you know?
Saying that voting matters is the new Got Milk commercial: every celebrity is doing
it—even the ones you thought couldn’t vote here. But does, like, every vote matter?
I spoke with Sunny Frothingham from Democracy North Carolina to see just how important each
vote is. - One vote can change the outcome of an election.
In North Carolina there were 31 cities where it came down to the decision of one voter.
What?! One vote?! - One vote.
It feels like the only race that you should be able to win or lose by one vote is, like,
high school student council. And not even the flashy positions. Like, Junior Secretary.
- Right. But a couple votes doesn't just determine
the theme of a school dance. In 2016, Trump won Michigan by an average of two votes in
each precinct. That’s... - Two votes! And we've all been living with
the consequences. And just in case Michelle's necklace didn't
convince you to vote, I assembled a group of people who lost tight-race elections to
make it even clearer that every vote matters. Welcome everyone! I’ve brought you all here
because you all have one thing in common: you are losers, technically. You’re winners
to me, and you also lost. So what happened in your election?
- I’m Terry Bouricius, and I lost an election by one vote.
- I’m Sarah Buxton, and I won my 2010 election by one vote, and I lost three terms later
to the same opponent by one vote. - Hi, I’m Tiffany Caban, and I lost my 2019
race .06 of 1% of the vote. - I’m Tanya Flanagan and I lost my 2011
race by a card draw. What?!
- I tied. And to break the tie, the dealer came out, fully dressed, laid out the green
felt table, did some card tricks, and spread them out. And I pulled the lower card.
And I thought I had bad luck in Las Vegas card games!
- No, not like that! Okay, I need to ask this just to cover all
my bases: you all remembered to vote for yourselves, didn’t you?
[ALL] Yes. I'm not sure I believe them. Plus, this is
no laughing matter. Because these are exactly the type of people we need in office.
- Your prosecutor is probably the most powerful local elected official that you could elect.
They make the policy, they execute it, they can change it on day one. The consequences
or a race like that is the difference between people being caged or not, the difference
between criminalizing poverty, mental health, substance use.
Math isn't my thing, but had… beep boop, beep boop… 56 more people voted, Queens
could’ve had a progressive DA. That’s why it’s time for Americans to vote as much
as they do for Dancing with the Stars. When people say, “um, well it doesn’t
even matter, like, who even cares, my vote doesn’t make a difference.” How do you
restrain yourself, but then how do you actually approach answering their question?
- You know, if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. If you’re not voting,
then your interests are not gonna be the ones that are being protected.
- I like to think of voting less as a “one vote deciding election,” being more like
a community effort. It’s like we’re all pushing a boulder up the hill, and you say,
“well, it doesn’t really matter if I keep pushing because there’s all these people
pushing, and my muscles aren’t so strong so I’m gonna stop.” We can’t just leave
it to somebody else. You’re gonna make me push a boulder up a hill during a pandemic?!
Terry, have mercy! In America, the only difference between voting and pushing a boulder up a
hill is that you get a sticker. So it's natural that voters are disillusioned with the process.
- If you don’t want to be as disillusioned, get involved in some hyperlocal races. They
are sexy, they’re addictive, you get access to the candidate, you’re talking to people
face-to-face. Wait, did you just say that hyperlocal races
are sexy? - The sexiest!
And probably your congressperson started on the local level.
- And that’s the piece that’s so important! That the people that you see in Washington
right now, they start somewhere. So if you’re not engaged in the process at the local level,
that’s the grooming point. And you need to pick that person early, ‘cause you’re
going to have them later, 9 times out of 10. Crush them! Crush them early so they don’t
go on and f*** up the whole world! Yes! Crush them! Crush them up and down the
ballot. And sideways if you’re into that kind of thing. Because...
- Voting got us into this, and voting will get us out.
Alright. Alright! One person at a time. - One person at a time.