I often see people say that the majority of America is against Trump. How did he come to be democratically elected if the majority are against him? I know technically he didn't get the majority of votes, he got just under 50%, but if all the non-voters cared enough, they could have stopped him from becoming president. I know Kamala Harris wasn't the best choice either; I know it sucks that there are only two viable options in an election, but that's the way it is. You have to make the best of a bad situation and participate in the election to prevent the fascist takeover.
When I point out that the majority could have prevented this, I get told a lot of Americans didn't vote, as if that absolves them. That means the majority either voted for Trump or didn't care enough to prevent this. If the majority were against him and gave enough of a fuck about what happens to their country, they'd have voted to prevent this.
You don't get to refrain from participating and then say you aren't responsible for the outcome. Is this the reason so many university students refuse to study? They think if they don't study, it makes them not responsible for the outcome of the exam? When I was in university, I heard a lot of people complain that they weren't ready for the exam because they didn't study, seemingly oblivious that that was a choice they made. Now people tell me a lot of Americans didn't vote with that same attitude, as if CHOOSING not to vote was somehow beyond their control and not their responsibility
There will always be people who don't vote. Some because they are legally barred from doing so. Some because they are illegally barred from doing so. Some because they are unethically burdened in ways that make it very difficult to do so. Some because they are unethically misinformed in ways that make it difficult to do so.
Then there's the people who are consistently harmed by both parties like people who self-medicate, people who grew up as descendants of slaves or of destitute indigenous families, criminals who haven't been barred from voting (those who have are included above).
Only after you get through all these layers can you find the people that choose not to vote because they didn't care or they didn't think it would matter or did so out of protest.
And within that group you will find legitimate reasons to protest vote, like genocide.
In short, when we say that only x% of Americans vote, we don't really mean all those people simply had the option to easily vote and just didn't want to.