125x

Part of News & Politics · All guides

Why US elections only give you two choices: summary

Why US elections only give you two choices

Vox · Mar 6, 2024 · about 10 min

Uploaded Mar 6, 2024 · 3.2M views (as of Oct 30, 2026)

Good value given

In New England, 36% of voters picked Republicans in 2022, yet none of the region's 21 House members are Republicans.
Independent mapmakers found every possible Massachusetts district map would still produce an all Democratic delegation.
Proportional systems give parties seats based on their share of the vote, and come in closed list, open list, mixed and ranked choice forms.
Ranked choice alone doesn't help small parties much. It needs multiple winners per district to make results proportional.
Changing this for Congress needs a change to federal law, but states and cities can change their own systems more easily.

Why do US elections only give you two choices?

Because each House district elects one person, and whoever gets the most votes wins. A third party could get a quarter of the vote in every district and still win zero seats, so most people see a vote for it as wasted. Vox says the fix is multi-winner districts with proportional representation, where a share of votes gets a share of seats.

Worth watching?Good value given. A clear look at how winner take all districts squeeze out smaller parties, with simple comparisons to Germany, Spain, Finland and Ireland.

ActionableLessons

Actionable

Check whether your city or state uses ranked choice voting for any race.
Look up your district's last House result and compare the vote share with who won.
If you're curious about a party you don't usually vote for, read its platform before the next local election.

Lessons

Election rules shape how many parties can survive.
Gerrymandering gets the blame, but single winner districts cause much of the imbalance on their own.
Small experiments at the local level are how bigger changes usually start.

Quick answer

Vox posted this video on Mar 6, 2024. Here's our summary in our own words: the answer to the title, a verdict, 5 takeaways, and Actionable and Lessons tabs.

What 125x is: 125x is a web app at 125x.app. You connect your YouTube subscriptions, and it gives you a feed of the latest videos from the channels you follow, each with a summary: a verdict, the 5 key takeaways, and the spoiler, plus Actionable and Lessons tabs with more tips. You read that and decide what's actually worth opening.

Open 125x

Watch the video

Watch on YouTube: Why US elections only give you two choices

Channel: Vox. Published Mar 6, 2024. About 10 minutes.

The video's suggestion is to start local: cities and states choose how their own councils and legislatures are elected, so that's where people can push for ranked choice or multi-winner elections first.

Quotes from the video

“In our system, voting for a third party helps the party you least agree with.”
“Proportional representation means that a share of votes gets you a share of seats.”
“Our system, by its very nature, precludes political competition.”

A note on this summary

This page reports what the video says, in our own words. Quotes are copied word for word from the video's transcript. Views are as of Oct 30, 2026.

How 125x does this for your feed

This page is one sample of what 125x does for every video in your feed. 125x pulls in your YouTube subscriptions automatically, so there's nothing to set up. Each new video gets a watch, skim or skip verdict, 5 takeaways, the answer to the clickbait title, and Actionable and Lessons tabs.

View your YouTube feed at 125x speed. YouTube summaries of every video in your feed.

FAQ: questions people ask

Why can't third parties win in the US?

Each district picks one winner, so a party with a large but spread out share of the vote can end up with no seats.

What is proportional representation?

A system where a party that wins a share of the votes gets about the same share of seats.

Does ranked choice voting help third parties?

Only somewhat on its own. The video says it helps much more when a district elects several people at once.