The electoral college: The ultimate decider of who becomes president of the United States. Whoever gets the most votes in a state gets the electoral votes that go with that respective state. As a result, third-party candidates never earn any electoral votes (with the exception of the 1968 election), because they never win the majority of the state. Thus, the question that just about every agitated liberal political analyst buzzed during last Tuesday night's election coverage: Why are people voting third-party? Rachel Maddow was probably the most caustic with her rant on MSNBC, "If you vote for someone who can't win as president, it means that you don't care who wins for president."

Is she right? Is voting third-party practically throwing away your vote? Is it just a way of saying, "I performed my civic duty, but I don't really care what happens"? As a Floridan (yes, from the notorious swing state) who voted for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, I strongly disagree. In fact, this was probably the most important election to vote third-party.

During this year's election, Gary Johnson accumulated 2% of Florida with 206,007 votes (up 1.5% and 161,326 votes from the 2012 election), while Jill Stein raked in 0.7% with 64,019 votes (up 0.6% and 55,086 votes) in the sunshine state. These numbers may not seem substantial, but they made all of the difference in the election. To say that these votes would have helped Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton cannot be said for sure. After all, Gary Johnson's political ideology of removing government from the equation could have easily resonated with voters who would typically vote for a Republican candidate, but could not comprehend President-Elect Donald Trump's outlandish plans for wall-building and Muslim repelling.

The largest third-party presence, however, came in Utah with Independent candidate Evan McMullin garnering a whooping 21% with 175,301 votes. Clinton only acquired 7% more votes. Trump snatched the victory, but with only 47% of the votes for the state. Considering this was the closest instance of a three-party race that we have seen since Ross Perot pulled in 19% of the overall popular votes in 1992, what does this say about third-party voters?

For starters, more Americans are yearning for change. They don't see their ballot sheets as mere numbers, but as statements. They are fed up with having to choose between two poor options, so they pick a candidate that best represents their values and beliefs. The real question, then, should be: Why do people continue to vote for the two major parties?

Unfortunately, there is still a stigma with voting third-party. People like Maddow who claim, "They're not going to win, don't vote for them," express a dangerous mindset. Many Americans don't want their votes to feel wasted, so they continue to vote for a major party candidate, whether they truly want that person as president or not. A lot of voters are also misinformed or unaware about third-party candidates. This isn't even entirely their fault. When I was in elementary school, all of the fifth grade classes participated in a mock election. We were given the choice to vote for either Barrack Obama or John McCain. I blindly voted for Obama because I thought he was cool and a lot of my friends were voting for him. It wasn't until I was in middle school that I started learning about third-parties, primarily because my mom started following Ron Paul and studied his policies. School, sadly enough, barely mentioned anything besides the two main parties.

We cannot continue to encourage young people to vote without showing them all of their options. That would be like giving someone a menu at a restaurant that displayed two entrees in giant, bold lettering, while all of the other options are in barely legible, minute print. The electoral college makes things much more arduous for third-party candidates to survive, but a lack of information practically eliminates any chance remaining. Fortunately, this election was a major step forward for the alternative. Despite what many Americans are spewing through protests and social media campaigns, the future looks hopeful. So instead of blasting celebrity third-party voters, like Susan Sarandon, on Twitter, let's continue to promote the outsiders. Who knows? Maybe the 2020 election will see a third-party candidate speak at the debates, have a sufficient amount of airtime, and possibly, stand a chance.

Source: The Associated Press