The 2016 election turned out to be the biggest joke in American history. Not only was it the most polarized election known, both candidates were also highly problematic. Trump remains unbelievably unqualified, yet Clinton represented the corruption that America wishes to shift away from. While a third party candidate may seem like the best option for voters in this dilemma, voting outside of the bipartisan system turned out to be one’s biggest mistake.
Trump supporters will remain Trump supporters, and they are simply exercising their rights by voting for him. While a third party voter believes they are doing the same, their effort to make a supposedly powerful statement resulted in the election of someone who will suppress their bold voices. Although many disapproved of Clinton, she represented third party ideals and beliefs much more than Trump.
Essentially, any votes that went to the third parties, rather than towards Clinton, were votes for Trump. The few percentage points lost to these candidates are always pulled from the Democratic voters, resulting in fewer votes for the Democratic candidate. Usually, this would not have a huge effect, but in such a critical, polarized election, one percentage point meant everything.
Trump wins Florida, a critical swing state, by a close margin. With just nearly a one percentage point defeat, Clinton would have won the 29 electoral votes from Florida had it been a bipartisan case scenario.
Since Clinton won the nation’s population vote, many call for reforming the electoral college. This, however, would be a tedious, complicated process requiring a constitutional amendment. Seeing as this reform never occurred after a similar incident during the 2000 election, it is unlikely that it would happen now. Instead of a constitutional amendment to an integral part of our democratic system, enforcing a strict bipartisan system may be key to ensuring proper election results. Even though the majority of the nation was with her, the elites and the third party voters were with him, and that is all that mattered in the end.