Voting for Third-party Candidates Can Help Those parties in Next Election
Lesser of two evils: The presidential election is made up of state competitions. In all non-swing states, including Missouri, it's already known which candidate will win. A vote for a third party will not tip the election, and therefore you can vote for anyone you want. Even if you are voting in the most heated of swing states, simply sign up on balancedrebellion.com or burnmyvote.org. These sites let you vote for a third-party candidate without tipping the election.
Wasted vote: Even if your candidate loses, your vote was not wasted. Votes unequivocally help third parties in the next election through ballot access, federal funding and more. They are therefore “invested votes,” not “wasted votes.” Both the Libertarian and Green parties are within reach of these voting milestones in Missouri, as well as nationally.
The above arguments have nothing to do with the candidate’s qualifications, stances on issues or debate performance. And while I hope you take these into account when voting, the “lesser of two evils” or “wasted vote” arguments hold no merit, and should not be part of your voting decision.
Vote for someone, not against someone, who you want to be president, whether that’s Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Gary Johnson or Jill Stein, or anyone else. It’s that simple.
- Chris, Seager, St. Louis Post Dispatch Questions
Can third parties gain traction and have true influence in future elections?
Do you believe voting third party will have an affect in this election?
Which candidate, Trump or Hillary, will lose more votes to third party candidates?
Is it me or does this seem unethical? Don't we criticize Congress for logrolling, vote-trading & quid pro quo?
ReplyDeleteWould you really vote trade Cauchi?
Can third parties gain traction and have true influence in future elections?
ReplyDeleteI believe that third parties can eventually gain traction and have a legitimate opportunity to hold office. Unfortunately this change will not happen overnight because so many Americans have their voting identities influenced by the media and those around them. Therefore this change will have to happen slowly as more and more people realize a change in the two party system may be necessary.
Third parties can eventually gain traction and have a true influence in future elections. Even though they have the ability, it is very hard for them to actually get the media support. Since there are already defined stations people watch or listen to on the radio based on their party affiliation, the third party candidates ideas are never put out there for people to hear on a daily basis. Instead you just hear about the Republican candidate and the Democratic candidate. This year will prove very impactful to the influence third parties can have in future elections because many people do not feel comfortable with either Trump or Clinton and if the third party candidates get enough support they will finally have the media covering them in later years.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that third parties will gain enough traction to succeed in near future elections. The two-party system has been cultivated for centuries, and third parties rarely even make it to the mainstream media. The difference with this election is that many people feel that both main party candidates are so undesirable (Hillary because she's untraditional (woman) and perceived as a liar, and Trump because of his radical, unfiltered racism against minority majorities, which does not represent how Republicans want to be seen). Although people think they want third party candidates, they don't realize what it means to have a third party candidate as President. Nonetheless, I don't even anticipate enough people voting for third party candidates for it to become a possibility of one winning.
ReplyDeleteIt's likely that Trump will lose some Republican votes to the Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson. A multi party system is ideal in any democratic government, however the belief that such a system is effective, is, in my opinion, naive. For many Americans, politics is already often too complex to understand or follow. The addition of multiple parties to follow and understand will simply decrease political participation in our country. Minor parties such as the Green Party and Libertarian Party simply serve to detract from the election process. Although the idea of multi parties is agreeably appealing, it is not practical, nor does it help the democratic process in our nation.
ReplyDeleteCan third parties gain traction and have true influence in future elections?
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that third parties can gain traction and have influence in future elections. The two party system is something that has been around for most of the United States' history. Tradition is a recurring theme in U.S. government, and the two party system is one of the oldest and most established traditions. Third parties won't be able to have future influence just because of the deeply rooted tradition of the two party system.
I don't believe that third parties will gain traction very soon, but after this very divisive election, there is a greater chance that we will see more support for third party politicians. As our country's values evolve, there are key issues that democrats disagree on among their own party, and the same for republicans. As government continues to become increasingly divided, we may actually see third party candidates become more popular. However, this election was not the time for the third party candidates to gain power--they were not strong enough.
ReplyDeleteThe United States through the past has been very polarized. However, I don't think the country is too polarized that a third party is necessary. I don't believe anytime soon that a third party member can win the presidency. Media coverage is pretty slim and most states don't even recognize third parties during voting.
ReplyDeleteI believe that third parties can eventually gain traction and influence future elections. Now with Trump as our President-elect, I believe that there is a chance a third party could emerge due to the extreme polarization occurring. Since everything has become so polarized, there are people who are unhappy and find that their beliefs do not align with either party, this is where a third part has a chance to form. This party will consist of all of the unhappy Democrats or unhappy Republicans, either way it is eventually bound to happen.
ReplyDeleteThe only effect that third parties will have is pulling voters from the main two parties. If the US continues to have single member congressional districts then the minor parties will remain without a say. Hillary will lose the most since her voters are likely to vote for Jill Stein and Gary Johnson.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that third parties are able to gain traction and have a true influence in future elections. This particular election was a perfect example of why that is. Neither Trump nor Hillary were preferred and many Americans had to ask the question “who is less horrible?” instead of “who is the better candidate?” With this in mind, the third party candidate still did so poorly, thus I don’t believe much will change in the future.
ReplyDeleteWhile it would be nice to have the influence of a third party, the current winner take all system of the electoral college does not work in favor of a third party. The third party will most likely not gain any traction in the future, possibly as a result of this election. One of the reasons for the 2016 election moving in favor was the amount of third party votes Hillary lost. If anything this last election will discourage future third party voters from voting for somebody who is so unlikely to win.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is very unlikely that third parties will eventually be incorporated into future elections. Even though many voters are dissatisfied with the nominees, they still stick to their parties. People are very stubborn with their political identities and rarely change parties. In addition, if voters started to vote for third parties one of the main parties would most likely have an advantage because of the loss of votes to the other. This means that they would be more likely to win and exclude the third party further.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Zack that it's unlikely that 3rd parties will gain any significant momentum/power in upcoming elections. If anything major happens with parties, it will be an increase in the dealignment trend to the point where parties become obsolete, but I doubt that 3rd party candidates will win a election. However, if Democrats and Republicans observe a 3rd party having success with an idea or policy, they might adopt it, resulting in an indirect impact from a non-Democrat/non-Republican.
ReplyDelete