This article is in response to Kasey Cross's article 5 Reasons Why Voting Third Party Is Not A Wasted Vote. It is my own personal belief that voting for a third party candidate leads to a variety of consequences, especially in an election as controversial as this year. Feel free to read Cross's thoughts and then compare them to my own.

1. "A vote for a lesser evil is still a vote for evil"... in your opinion

This election has quite possibly been one of the most controversial, at least in the years that I have lived. During my first election, I will have the pleasure (or displeasure) of voting for a billionaire real estate mogul or a former FLOTUS, New York senator and woman's rights champion. However, many people choose to see Hillary Clinton as an evil mastermind, greedy to get back in the White House and cause chaos. But, in reality, she has a strong and liberal voting record in the Senate; her record was more liberal than 70% of Democrats and 85% of all members of the Senate. She also acknowledged climate change and has a comprehensive plan to tackle it. You may think that Clinton and Trump are one and the same, but they really couldn't be any more different. Hillary has reason and logic when dealing with ISIS and women' reproductive rights, while Donald can't even remember his own stance on the issues. People really need to stop trying to paint Hillary Clinton as evil, when she could possibly come to have a historical presidency

2. "A vote for a candidate you believe in is never wasted"... until it actually works against you

I do believe that you have to vote regardless of the political environment. If you don't vote, then that is most definitely a vote gone to waste. So, congratulations if you have decided to vote! But, also choose candidates carefully. Of course, everyone wants to vote with their conscience and wishes that there is a candidate out there that fits every single one of our beliefs. But that's not how it works. We all have a variety of values, morals and beliefs; we cannot expect politicians to completely align with our own, let alone with the rest of the country. If we were all comfortable with either the Republican or Democratic nominee, then I would say go ahead and vote for a third party. But, that is not the case and I don't expect it ever to be. Voting for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson is only closing the gap between Clinton and Trump. In the end, wouldn't it be better to vote for a candidate that aligns somewhat with your beliefs than vote for someone you completely agree with and end up with someone completely different as president? If you think you're going to have a tough time sleeping at night with Clinton as president, I don't think it's going to be any easier with Trump in the Oval.

3. "You may have more in common with a third party candidate than you think"... maybe too much in common

This election's most prominent third party candidates are Jill Stein and Gary Johnson, running for the Green Party and Libertarian Party, respectively. However, they are not as well known given their minimal media coverage and low campaign funding. And while many support them, as is their right, these two candidates are perhaps not as prepared to run a whole country. Jill Stein graduated from Harvard Medical School and practiced until 2006. While this is a great accomplishment on its own, she has only held one political office throughout her whole life: she was a member of the Lexington Town Meeting from the 2nd district until 2011. All of a sudden, she thinks she can jump from a municipal legislature to the highest office in the land and we have to take that plunge with her. Gary Johnson was governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003, a much more prestigious and rigorous position than Stein's. In December 2013, Johnson founded a Super PAC to support Libertarian causes. Many criticize Clinton for being funded by Wall Street and Super PAC's, well how would you like a president that has his own? Oh, and he also founded and was the CEO of Cannabis Sativa Inc., a company that aims to sell medical cannabis products. People were bothered by the fact that Obama smoked. How would they feel about a president that not only encouraged marijuana use but profited off of it as well?

4. "Vote third party and bring down the power Democrats and Republicans hold over everyone"... and split the power amongst EVERYONE

The reason we have a two-party system is to prevent from power being split indefinitely amongst everybody that wants it. We complain and moan about having to pick between two candidates, but I can guarantee that it would be far more difficult to choose between ten candidates than two. Not only that but then the majority of votes that is needed to win grows slimmer every time a new political party pops up. For example, on July 1st, 2012, Mexico voted Enrique Peña Nieto to the presidency. He won only 38% of the votes! His opponents, Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Josefina Vázquez Mota, won 32% and 25% of the votes respectively. Can you imagine the protests and riots that would occur in cities if a president won with less than HALF of the whole country's votes? More than half of the country wanted someone else as president and he still won. Keep in mind that during his presidency 42 students were kidnapped and allegedly killed and the Mexican peso also dropped to a record low. Did I mention that he also cannot name his three favorite books?

5. "How dare you tell me I'm wasting my vote?"... Because I can and should

Just like it is your right to say that you believe in third party candidates, it is my right to say voting for a third party is a waste of a vote. And not only is it my opinion, but it is almost proven. In the United States, there are about 520,000 elected offices, and according to the Green Party, there are 117 candidates running for office this cycle. That means that the Green Party is only vying for .02% of ALL elected offices. To me, that doesn't sound viable. Don't try and guilt-trip me into thinking that I should hand my vote to the Green or Libertarian Party because Democrats and/or Republicans haven't worked for my vote. Third parties haven't even worked to build a nationally recognized political party. If third parties were to grow to formidable size and power, would I vote for them? Sure. But, they have not done the work to gain political attention or funding. Of course, they may claim the system is rigged against them and therefore cannot come to great prominence, but Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders both led grassroots campaigns that challenged the highly qualified political powerhouse that is Hillary Clinton. And one of them actually won the presidency. Why don't third-party candidates do the same? The reality is that Green and Libertarian Party candidates pop up every four years to try and collect votes with their holier-than-thou attitude and with no strong political standing. That is not something I want in my president. But, to each his own.