[AndrewKemendo]

>Who gets on the ballot is determined by voting.

That’s not even remotely true political parties determine privately who they will fund to put on the ballot underneath their particular party

The public is not invited to vote in those outside of certain primaries and even then the people who are proposed for the primaries are chosen from the party members

Ballot access for third-party or non-affiliated typically require a petition to apply and that threshold is again set by party members in office

>Politics is a major part of all aspects of life and you'll do yourself no favors by completely opting out because it's hopeless.

Voting is the lowest possible bar or participation for political engagement

Organizing and agitating are the day to day efforts people should be doing but aren’t because they prefer to have money

[bluGill]

The party itself is made up of the people. It isn't hard to join and get influence. Local elections in particular are easy, they are looking for help. Local elections make for people they look for to run in higher elections

[AndrewKemendo]

I’ve organized with the DSA the last few years, and I caucused for Ron Paul in 2008.

I promise you you will have zero success getting Claudia De-La Cruz (who I voted for and was on the ballot in VA) put on the DNC or RNC ballot.

So no, you can’t just get on a ballot as a candidate by showing up. You need to be a party loyalist and there are no independent parties that voters show up for.

Hell even “down ballot” have to stick to the party line.