Elijah Schaffer examines California’s 21.6% voter turnout in the June 7 primaries, blaming apathy and Trump-era disillusionment among non-voters like Ralph (Huntington Beach) and Haven (preparing for her son’s birth). Polls’ 2016 inaccuracies and extremist risks are debated, while a "new California" sovereignty push highlights conservative resistance. The episode ends with a free-speech clash—Elijah defends a ticketed man cursing during a singing segment—underscoring his provocative blend of political commentary and culture war stunts. [Automatically generated summary]
Yesterday was the California primary election where I saw that about 21.6% of eligible voters, not necessarily registered, actually turned out to vote.
Which means one in five Californians wanted to make their voice heard.
And I just started thinking, WTF America, what's going on with you?
So I'm out here in Huntington Beach, California to talk to whoever I can about the state of our country and why it's important to vote.
Do you think that California is currently headed in a good direction, considering the fact that only one out of five eligible adult voters turned out for this election yesterday?
unidentified
Take it away.
I would say no, and I'm like kind of guilty of this too because I didn't vote and I didn't even know there was like an election for that.
Well let's continue on talking about, so why, you know, kind of holding up a sign, telling homos, feminists, porn freaks, pot smokers, atheists, thugs, yoga pants, scutters, muslims, witches, idolaters, and masturbators, that they're going to go to hell.
I mean, is there probably like a better way to convince people to fall in line with conservative values?
So voting is, voting is specifically for people who eat popsicles deep into their throat where it causes gag reflexes.
But I mean, I mean, a lot of people like popsicles, so I'm not discriminating.
That's just what it is.
So what do you think about the gas tax?
Do you guys like high gas rates or what?
No, Okay.
So.
So then my question is for you.
If you like low gas, let me ask you this.
Do you like the idea of illegal immigrants that have committed violent crimes, including sex crimes, being protected in our state from actually being extradited?
With those strong views, I would say that a lot of people tend to think that conservatives, which I myself am very staunchly conservative, would find that your rhetoric is actually hateful and is actually making the conservative movement go downhill.
What is your response to that?
unidentified
The problem is that we live in an era of conservatism that just wants to be widely accepted.
And we are going to fight for the rights of those who protect us.
But don't you think that in our party that we should be, since we're fighting for rights, for individual liberty and for rights, that kind of just walking around telling the people that we're trying to get to vote in our base that they're all going to hell and gonna burn is probably not the best idea?
unidentified
Well, the problem with what you're saying is that just a question.
You know, I was just thinking with all these things we're talking about, beautiful women and voters, non-voters, singing men, getting tickets.
You know, America is pretty awesome, not because of equity, but it's pretty good because of the amount of vast diversity there is, and not just how people look, because I'm not as concerned about how people look as the quality of their character.
And to be honest, people think so differently out here.
Some people I just appreciated them because of their body, to be honest.
But other people, I really appreciated because of their mind, and some people both.
And I think that's what makes America great: people are not judged just by one thing, but you do the best at what you can do.
So I'm really excited.
I love this country.
I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
And I'm privileged to call myself an American, but I did vote.
So my opinion matters.
So then, here's a question.
So, would you consider yourself to be more progressive or more conservative?
Okay, so basically, do you believe that perhaps conservative voters in California would be discouraged from turning out because they would feel like their votes wouldn't matter in the end?
All right, so what we're beginning to see here is that not only do Californians have opinions basically about their government, I'm sure that reflects the rest of the country as well, but Californians out here don't really seem to be much of voters in the end.
A lot of them have good intentions to want to vote, but when they're actually asked the question of whether or not they did, the answer tends to be no.
But we're hoping here, slightly offensive, that we can start encouraging people to get out and let your voice be heard.
We're not as big on trying to make you think like us as we just want you to think because people aren't really doing that in our country anymore.
But overall, I will say this.
California might be lacking in the brains, but it's not lacking anywhere else, if you know what I mean.
We have good-looking people out here.
I gotta say that, probably some of the best-looking in the entire country.
But we could work intellectually on our ability to advance.
This is what happens when you live in a liberal society.
People are more concerned about their appearance than they are their actual minds.
But what ends up pushing and changing a country is not just the way we look, but it's the way we think as well.
So is it better to vote or not to vote?
unidentified
I think it's better to vote, just get your voice heard.
So what do you think about your voice not being heard?
unidentified
I had a whole conversation like yesterday with my friend, but at the end of the day, I just, I don't feel like my vote is going to make that much of a difference.
Me personally, um, I would still urge other people to do that.
Cause obviously if everyone thought like me, then right.
And I watched them on the election night, and it was hilarious how they were basically guaranteeing that Hillary was going to win, which proves that polls typically can be used to discourage people from voting, but it actually is not an indicator of who's going to win the election.
Current polls were saying that Newsom was going to win.
Do you think that in California, polls can be used to manipulate minds to discourage voters from turning out and supporting their party?
unidentified
Yes, you saw that all over the national election with Trump, too.
If you looked at the alternative polls, he was going to win big time, but the mainstream media, yeah, bigly, the mainstream media made it look like he was going to lose, and at the last second, it changed.
A lot of Americans, especially Californians, seem like they're not actually voting in this current election.
Do you think that that could be a problem and that might be opening up the doors for people on the left and the right and extremist ideas to then basically be overtaking the political system, therefore hijacking it while leaving the masses out of influence?
unidentified
Well, I think California as a whole, just cutting them off from the whole United States, that we do have a problem, that there is a silent, a very vast, silent majority that is existing.
And if you're not voting, then you're just giving your opinion and that's just based off soul emotion, then what are you doing?
You're just causing commotion that doesn't need to be there.
And I think just America as a whole, though, that it's a lot, well, basically, just aside from the media, there's a lot of free-thinking individuals out there that are just using their free speech and that they're actually acting on their opinions and they're voting and getting out there.
So I think America is very diverse in the fact that people still use just their rights as Americans, but there's also a lot of people that just quite frankly don't give a damn if they should vote or whatever.