I am a NEET and uneducated at that.So I offer my view.
I asked my parents why they were frothingly enthusiastic over electing douchebag X over douchebag Y.
They took a very patronizing tone and explained to me that while they *of course* understand they are not making any difference, they are voting for X because , and I quote "Fuck Y and their party, I don't give a fuck who my vote goes to if it hurts Y" following a very angry recital of the many grievances they have with Y.
"You know, X hasn't done any of that yet. Maybe they will,but they are not Y, screw those assholes".
My parents claim to be aware of the main political parties taking turns into power and being generally corrupt and against the interest of the citizenry, yet unironically and proudly participate in swing voting.
Most people I know, young and old, are like that.Superficially they tout the socially acceptable version, but in reality they are invested in the spectacle and their vote gets bought by what amounts to pennies and vague promises.
My parents get angry when the topic of influence/media/spectacle gets brought up, even if it's their beloved TV that does it.
"Humans are not robots" they retort automatically, every time.
"You cannot manipulate people just by telling them things, people who make publicity and propaganda are dumb and wrong.I'm not gonna do anything just because they tell me…"
Their routine consists of getting up early in the morning, dragging themselves zombie-like through the morning routine before drinking a load of caffeine and going to work.
When their respective shifts end, in the afternoon, they come home, slouch in the sofa, stuff themselves with inexpensive shitty food and…
watch absolute trash in the television for hours on end.They eat up reality shows ,celebrity bullshit, sports… until the day is over and they go to sleep.
Whenever they don't have to work they just watch TV for most of the day or start compulsively redoing chores that don't even need to be done, just to occupy their time.
Personally, I'm a leech.However, if my parents are in any way representative of the average voter well, I wouldn't make a difference anyway.