大选投票者“互换选票”

在美国大选投票临近的关键时刻，两位候选人的支持者们也在幕后积极地筹划着——怎么能让自己的一张选票发挥最大价值?于是，一些可以“互换选票”的社交网站和手机应用产生了，并在多个州迅速蹿红。

为什么要“互换选票”？

Most Americans don't live in swing states, so while their votes will count, they won't be quite so important. But what if you could swap with someone planning to vote for a third-party candidate in a more relevant part of the country - making your ballot influential but still allowing the third-party voter to register their dissent?
大多数美国人并不住在摇摆州，所以尽管他们的选票也有用，但用处并没有太大。但如果你和想要投票给第三方党派的摇摆州选民互换选票呢？这就可以让你的选票更有影响，同时也让第三方党派的投票者表达出他们的意见。

That's the idea behind several anti-Donald Trump vote-swapping websites and a phone app that has seen a spike in popularity heading into election day.
这就是几个反对特朗普的互换选票网站和手机应用的初衷。随着大选的临近，这些互换选票的网站和应用也在美国蹿红。

来看看下面这个例子：

25-year-old Sadiq Khan is a Hillary Clinton supporter, but he doesn’t think his vote matters much, because he lives in New Jersey, a state that’s voted Democratic in the last six presidential elections… and is expected to do so again on Tuesday.
25岁的沙迪科•汗是希拉里的支持者，但是他认为自己的选票对希拉里没有多大用处，因为他居住在新泽西州，新泽西在此前的6届总统大选中一直投票给民主党，估计本届应该也是。

Now meet 23-year-old Anlin Wang. He prefers Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
再来看王安林。他支持的是绿党候选人斯迪安。

But Wang lives in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, and he worries a vote for Stein instead of Clinton could help Donald Trump win his state.
但王安林居住在宾夕法尼亚州，是大选中的摇摆州。他担心自己投票给斯迪安而不是希拉里会帮助特朗普在该州胜出。

Anlin Wang and Sadiq Khan had never met before, but they are trying to solve each other’s dilemmas by using a strategy called vote swapping.
虽然沙迪科和王安林从未见面，但他们尝试通过“互换选票”的办法来解决各自的问题。

A handful of vote swapping websites, apps, and Facebook groups have sprung up this election year connecting voters from all over the country.
在今年，美国出现了数个互换选票的网站、手机应用和脸谱网群组，将全国的选民联系起来。

ANLIN WANG: I just made a post there. And said, “I live in PA. Willing to trade my vote.
“我发了一条信息说‘我住在宾州，愿意换我的选票’。”王安林说。

SADIQ KHAN: Quickly realized that we’d be good trading partners.
“我很快意识到我们可以互换选票。”沙迪科说。

Khan agreed to vote for Jill Stein in New Jersey, and Wang, for Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania. Both see this as a win.
沙迪科同意在新泽西投票给绿党候选人斯迪安，王安林同意在宾州投票给希拉里。他们实现了合作双赢。

“互换选票”的来源

According to Vox, this practice first came about in the 2000 election, when voter trading websites popped up to help Nader supporters in swing states make sure that their third-party vote didn’t help Bush get elected. This time around, the #NeverTrump app is an attractive option for voters who refuse to vote for Clinton but also fear a Trump victory.
据Vox网站报道，互换选票的做法最早出现在2000年的总统大选。当年出现了互换选票的网站，帮助第三方候选人纳德在摇摆州的支持者确保自己的选票不会帮到小布什。而这次，互换选票应用“拒绝特朗普”对那些不想投票给希拉里，但也担心特朗普会当选的人们来说也很有吸引力。

“互换选票”合法性受质疑

As the #NeverTrump app has increased in popularity, some Trump supporters have raised questions about its legality, but Kumar points to a 2007 decision by a federal court which ruled that vote trading is a type of political activity protected under the US Constitution, rather than a form of illegal bribery or vote buying.
互换选票应用“拒绝特朗普”在美国走红，一些特朗普的支持者开始质疑其合法性。但该应用的创立者库马尔拿出了2007年通过的一项联邦决议，根据该决议，互换选票是受美国宪法保护的政治活动，而不是非法贿赂或者贿选。

But we won’t know what difference, if any, these vote swappers will have until Election Day.
但这些“互换选票者”会给大选带来什么影响，仍然要拭目以待。

（中国日报网英语点津 yaning）