Unfortunately, I have not read much communist literature ever since a long time ago, so I am not sure what the correct strategy is for communists regarding elections in America.
I ask because midterms are coming up and I am not sure if I should register as independent or not. Could anyone give advice and answers?
If you live in North America (canada and the us), just vote for a third party or not vote at all. If you live in the global south vote in whatever candidate has an anti-imperialist ideology, same is valid in some European Countries.
I do not think I will be able to join a currently existing party since they require party dues (maybe I could ask? There is also the issue that none seem amazing to me), but I could try to figure something out. I have never voted in a midterm election before, so this whole situation is difficult for me.
I also don’t know a lot about this topic, but if you are serious about it, Lenin wrote on Electoralism in “Left-Wing” Communism: an Infantile Disorder, chapter Should We Participate in Bourgeois Parliaments?. (source)
tldr: Communists should participate in elections since that’s where the people are.
Even if only a fairly large minority of the industrial workers, and not “millions” and “legions”, follow the lead of the Catholic clergy—and a similar minority of rural workers follow the landowners and kulaks (Grossbauern)—it undoubtedly signifies that parliamentarianism in Germany has not yet politically outlived itself, that participation in parliamentary elections and in the struggle on the parliamentary rostrum is obligatory on the party of the revolutionary proletariat specifically for the purpose of educating the backward strata of its own class, and for the purpose of awakening and enlightening the undeveloped, downtrodden and ignorant rural masses. Whilst you lack the strength to do away with bourgeois parliaments and every other type of reactionary institution, you must work within them because it is there that you will still find workers who are duped by the priests and stultified by the conditions of rural life; otherwise you risk turning into nothing but windbags.
But it’s also not that straightforward. See the footnotes where Lenin discusses Bordiga’s non-participation policy.
tldr: Communists should participate in elections since that’s where the people are.
that’s where the people were, in germany and russia prior to the first world war. see here for discussion:
There are almost 800,000 people experiencing homelessness on a single night according to the HUD 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report. There are roughly 23 million non-citizen adults living in the United States, with 14 million of those being undocumented immigrants (Pew Research Center, July 2023), and 4 million formerly incarcerated people with felonies (The Sentencing Project, “Locked Out 2024”), representing 27 million people who are legally barred from voting in the United States.
When we look at the voting statistics from 2024, we can see that voters earning under $100,000 make up only 42% of voter turnout, with that number decreasing to 16% for voters earning under $50,000 (PRRI, “Breaking Down the Differences Between Voters and Non-Voters in the 2024 Election,” May 2025). Roughly half of all adults earning under $50,000 did not vote in 2024, and half of all adults earning under $100,000 did not vote in 2024. That is over 100 million eligible voters who did not vote. For comparison, only about 22% of adults earning $100,000 or more did not vote.
These numbers are quite staggering, and their complexity gets even worse when we factor in other demographics such as age, ethnicity, and location. It should be incredibly obvious that the Marxist-Leninist parties, who claim to represent the interests of the Proletariat (those who have nothing to sell but their labor power), are spending millions of dollars and thousands of hours to platform watered-down socialism to predominantly white voters aged 45 and over who earn $100,000 or more annually, the labor aristocracy, historically the least likely to give a communist the time of day let alone join in their “movement.” The Proletariat and lumpenproletariat, roughly 65% and 8% of the U.S. population respectively, are indeed the least likely to turn up to the polls whether it comes to local or federal elections.
It genuinely doesn’t matter. Bourgeois elections will never be effective in bringing about the kind of changes required in a communist revolution so do whatever you want in an election. It is irrelevant from the perspective of building communism
Not just in building communism, but even in doing things that the people want them to do. For example. I watched this past week the debate for my local representative. The topic of saving the Great Salt Lake came up, and despite all the evidence that the main culprit for the reduction of water entering the lake being alfalfa, no mention whatsoever by either candidate addressed this issue. The closest I’ve heard is farmers selling their water rights back to the state. So that means that the state can grow all the alfalfa they want?
I think it does matter somewhat (even if it will never bring about necessary changes), since fascism is not something I want to live under for any amount of time.
I agree with you. But applying that logic, there’s not much telling which are more fascist. It’s the trolley problem but the tracks are obscured.
People become surprised to know that it’s the democrats how have historically warred overseas more.
there are few to no material gains to be made as a lone wolf, so as always, the first step is to get organized. others have brought up lenin in this thread. when he writes of actions to be taken, he means actions to be taken by the vanguard party. he never said whether you personally should vote or register.
that said, check out the referenda on your ballot, if any. those are the most important bubbles to fill in imo. there are a couple on there that make my blood boil. the candidates are kind of whatever in my mind. sometimes i vote first-party if i feel like i can stomach the candidate. sometimes i vote third party to maybe push them over the 5% mark but realistically, it would probably have a negligible impact on the next election even if they got there. either way, the ballot measures are way more important than all that.
Support communists if they are running (MA, NYC, and others have PSL candidates running) in your area.
Are you suggesting that I should vote for them? I need to check if any are running for the midterms here…
Vote, campaign, phone bank, volunteer, whatever you can contribute is better then nothing. Part of participating in the electoral process is to count our numbers and agitate when most people are paying attention.
It really really depends on your location (which I am not asking you share). In some places the local DSA is your best org but in others FRSO or PSL are the best options. There really aren’t any “good” American orgs. Find one that is helping people in your community and educating people on marxism. Avoid trots though.
I agree: Avoiding the Trotskyists is the best option (have they ever done anything of importance past Trotsky’s death?)
Did they ever do anything of importance before trotsky got got
as the other commenter says, it depends on where you are. meeting people at protests is a good way to gage who are the more active groups.
IMO, if there’s some positive that can be gained from a policy a candidate is pushing, then vote for them. In general, vote for the furthest left candidates. Any ground that can be gained or any furthering of left wing analysis helps.
Just don’t get lib brained about it thinking it’s going to fix the root of the problem. Toppling the capitalist order requires pressure from every single outlet we can access, even if it’s just a small impact.
I will never be lib-brained about it lol. What you say about trying to pressure from every outlet is also very useful, so thanks.
There is no viable left in the U.S., I know this makes me sound like a lib but there are many trans comrades in my life who have had their lives substantially damaged by the Republican party. The war against Iran was brazen imperialist aggression and Iranian people have suffered tremendously due to Trump’s arrogance.
The Democrats are the less destructive party. Things will deteriorate slower under democratic rule. I am largely influenced by “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” type thinking. Yes the Democrats are capitalist, yes imperialist, but the Republicans are outright genocidal towards trans people and immigrants.
The Democrats are the less destructive party. Things will deteriorate slower under democratic rule. I am largely influenced by “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” type thinking. Yes the Democrats are capitalist, yes imperialist, but the Republicans are outright genocidal towards trans people and immigrants.
https://19thnews.org/2024/10/harris-gender-affirming-care-incarcerated-people-fact-check/ I don’t think Mrs.“Follow-The-Law” was gonna be any less genocidal towards incarcerated trans people. So, no difference really. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/10/marcy-kaptur-ohio-trans-ad https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/10/06/ohio-democratic-candidates-amy-acton-and-marcy-kaptur-make-anti-transgender-remarks-face-backlash/
Seems like democrats will publicly support token laws that don’t address actual transgender issues. Repeatedly, they show their actual colors when it comes to policy in their own states or governance. They ultimately will compromise with the republicans on ANYTHING, including trans-rights, as liberals do, until they’re ultimately powerless and feckless as states that are republican continue to prosecute and attack trans-rights. Just like with Obamacare. Just like with Kamala supporting being tough on Iran and her policy on one of the most vulnerable groups of trans people that are incarcerated and just like every other war in American history.
How is supporting the Iran war, being “tough on Iran”, fully zionist to the point of fully supplying a genocide (Biden) any less destructive? What are you talking about?
I know how you feel. But the violence committed by the US state apparatus is far more likely to be redirected than mitigated.
https://thebaffler.com/latest/democrats-are-the-real-party-of-war
