I get it. You don’t want to vote for Trump because he’s said some pretty nasty things and has some pretty radical ideas, and you don’t want to vote for Hillary because she’s been involved in her fair deal of scandals since her time as Secretary of State. I understand.
This is a time when many people are choosing the “less of two evils,” or are abstaining from the vote as a whole. If that’s your prerogative, then so be it — you have a right to do whatever you want, in terms of voting. If you want to write in Vermin Supreme, then go ahead. Love Hillary or Trump? Go for it. That’s not what I’ll be doing, so let me tell you about my plan.
For starters, you should know that I’m studying Political Science as an undergraduate and plan to continue studying it into my graduate and doctoral career. I love this field and I love learning more and more about it each day. That being said, I have learned a great deal in the last year about elections and the presidential office as a whole and I want to vote third party.
Voting third party is something that I never thought I’d want to do. It doesn’t seem like a practical idea right off of the bat. A third party candidate has never won a presidential election and has only won a handful of Congressional elections across the states.
The most successful third party bid occurred in 1912, when former President Theodore Roosevelt ran as the nominee for the Bull Moose Party and claimed 27.4 percent of the popular vote. It isn’t likely that a third party candidate will win an election, especially in the modern era. In 2012, Gary Johnson gained 1.03 percent of the votes, one of the highest percentiles in the history of the Libertarian Party.
I don’t want to vote third party because I think my candidate will win. It’s so unlikely, but it is worth a shot. With so much anger and frustration directed towards the top two candidates, it seems more likely than ever that a third party candidate will gain a higher percentage of the votes — perhaps even breaking Teddy Roosevelt’s record.
With Obama (sadly) leaving office, 2016 is a time for change, and I encourage you to vote for someone you truly believe in and remember this: The idea behind a third party vote isn't necessarily, "Oh, I want to vote for this person because I know they'll win." That's not the point in voting at all.
It's about voting based on what you believe in or someone that you feel comfortable with and helping third parties come to prominence in the U.S. so we're not always so limited in our voting choices. The more often we vote for third parties, the better our choices become and third parties have a greater chance of winning.
If you’re interested, here is some more information about a couple of third-party candidates that I hope you’ll consider.
Gary Johnson, Libertarian Party: https://johnsonweld.com/
Jill Stein, Green Party: http://www.jill2016.com/
Finally, take the “I Side With” quiz to help you make your decision. This is a great resource that allows you to know where candidates stand on issues compared to yourself. Check it out and happy voting!
