Voting third party...is a waste of a vote

[averageJOE]

This is the first time in my life that I will vote third party. Most likely Johnson, but Stein is starting to get more of my attention. However, when I mention this to others I get pretty much the same response; "You'd be throwing your vote away", "That is a waste of a vote", "That would just guarantee a Trump presidency", and so on.

To me, those arguments sound exactly the same as someone who says they are not going to vote at all. "It's just one vote. Its not like it would make a difference"

Am I wasting a vote? I'm tired of voting for someone I hate less than the other.

I'm starting to like the "rank choice voting" system she proposes at the 12 minute mark.

 

[Eliab ben Benjamin]

I don't believe it is a waste .... vote for the persons you believe in most.

 

[jeager106]

Agreed.
3rd party candidates don't have a prayer.
I sometimes think (sometimes?) that the only purpose of a 3rd party is to drain
votes better spent.
I've always been a member of the 3rd party of ............................ME.
Sadly I don't even, never have, voted for me.

 

[Quetzal]

I don't believe it is a waste .... vote for the persons you believe in most.

If everyone did this, we would have a viable third party candidate and @Revoltingest could retire happy!

 

[jeager106]

I don't believe it is a waste .... vote for the persons you believe in most.

I do. Sadly I have only ever gotten my one vote.

 

[Revoltingest]

Some have said we should feel shame for voting 3rd party.
(It's because we should instead vote for their candidate.)
Nah....3rd party showings influence things.
I vote this way over 90% of the time.

 

[esmith]

eventually another Ross Perot will come along and I will again vote for a third party candidate.

 

[Laika]

This is the first time in my life that I will vote third party. Most likely Johnson, but Stein is starting to get more of my attention. However, when I mention this to others I get pretty much the same response; "You'd be throwing your vote away", "That is a waste of a vote", "That would just guarantee a Trump presidency", and so on.

To me, those arguments sound exactly the same as someone who says they are not going to vote at all. "It's just one vote. Its not like it would make a difference"

Am I wasting a vote? I'm tired of voting for someone I hate less than the other.

I'm starting to like the "rank choice voting" system she proposes at the 12 minute mark.

Think of your vote as an investment. Voting for a major party is more likely to pay off but may be far from ideal. Voting for a third party is a longer term investment played out over several elections. It depends how you weigh the short and long term. There is never a perfect time to vote for a third party so you have to decide if you have had enough and all that motivates you to vote for one of the major parties is fear- which is a worthless emotion when the solution doesn't get rid of the problem.

However, an alternative way of looking at it is actually joining a third party, paying membership dues and putting time in for it. If you really want an alternative- and recognise it's a long term goal that won't happen in this election- you should consider helping building it up and being part of that effort to break through. It can happen if "enough" people feel the same way and there is such a deep crisis in the ruling elite that a third party can break through. But you have to put your time, your money and your vote where your mouth is. I'm not sure if it's a real quote but "the best way to predict the future is to make it happen".

 

[jonathan180iq]

The Party game has taken power and control away from the will of the people. If we continue to vote for candidates just because they are the "lesser of two evils", then we shouldn't be surprised when nothing actually changes. In voting for those people, we are openly voicing our support for their shallow rhetoric. The moment that we stop endorsing the major parties just because we think we have to is the moment that we regain our voice as a populace and the moment that we actually get representation in Washington.

The only people wasting their votes are the ones who fail to recognize that they are being played by two political parties who long ago decided how to make our decisions for us.

F*ck them. Vote for the candidate that you actually support or agree with. When everyone does that, everything changes.

 

[Satans_Serrated_Edge]

It seems to me the idea that any vote cast outside the status quo is wasted is a big part of what is maintaining said status quo.

I wonder how the turnout would be if people stopped spreading it. I mean, the amount of people that would vote libertarian might actually be significant if they stopped 'throwing away their votes ' on candidates they don't actually support.

Especially this time, where it seems everyone is deciding who to vote for on the grounds of who they hate less.

 

[Revoltingest]

The Party game has taken power and control away from the will of the people. If we continue to vote for candidates just because they are the "lesser of two evils", then we shouldn't be surprised when nothing actually changes. In voting for those people, we are openly voicing our support for their shallow rhetoric. The moment that we stop endorsing the major parties just because we think we have to is the moment that we regain our voice as a populace and the moment that we actually get representation in Washington.

The only people wasting their votes are the ones who fail to recognize that they are being played by two political parties who long ago decided how to make our decisions for us.

F*ck them. Vote for the candidate that you actually support or agree with. When everyone does that, everything changes.

There is a difference this time.
Trump is not his party's choice.
(And we almost had Bernie, who wasn't the choice of his party de jour.)
So at least with one of the Big Two, there was no party anointment.
But Hilda is the status quo, the lawyer clique, the machine, entrenched
power, & more of the same old same old.

 

[suncowiam]

Some have said we should feel shame for voting 3rd party.
(It's because we should instead vote for their candidate.)
Nah....3rd party showings influence things.
I vote this way over 90% of the time.

And how many times have you won? =P

I agree to vote third party only in ideal but democracy best supports a two party system.

In this election, going third party risks Trump winning the election which isn't bad if your second choice is Trump.

 

[Revoltingest]

And how many times have you won? =P

Not once that I can think of.

I agree to vote third party only in ideal but democracy best supports a two party system.
In this election, going third party risks Trump winning the election which isn't bad if your second choice is Trump.

It seems we have different goals.
The reason I plan to vote for The Donald is to reduce the risk of Hilda becoming prez.

 

[Quetzal]

It seems we have different goals.
The reason I plan to vote for The Donald is to reduce the risk of Hilda becoming prez.

To be fair, that swings both ways, though. In your case, taking your vote to a third party could help push the Hawk into the oval office.

 

[Revoltingest]

To be fair, that swings both ways, though. In your case, taking your vote to a third party could help push the Hawk into the oval office.

I know.
But in a winner-take-all state like Michiganistan, which typically overwhelmingly elects Democrats,
I just might see an opportunity to vote for Johnson without affecting the Donald v Hilda race.

 

[suncowiam]

Not once that I can think of.

It seems we have different goals.
The reason I plan to vote for The Donald is to reduce the risk of Hilda becoming prez.

Oh... I jumped away from the initial topic.

I want to support third parties but our system just doesn't support it in practice. Not even sure what type of system would naturally nurture it.

 

[Revoltingest]

Oh... I jumped away from the initial topic.
I want to support third parties but our system just doesn't support it in practice. Not even sure what type of system would naturally nurture it.

There are a couple I can think of.....
1) At large voting helps with state & congressional elections.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-large
2) Weighted voting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighted_voting

But the Big Two are very much opposed to such systems.
It threatens their lock on power.

 

[jonathan180iq]

There is a difference this time.
Trump is not his party's choice.
(And we almost had Bernie, who wasn't the choice of his party de jour.)
So at least with one of the Big Two, there was no party anointment.
But Hilda is the status quo, the lawyer clique, the machine, entrenched
power, & more of the same old same old.

I know.
But in a winner-take-all state like Michiganistan, which typically overwhelmingly elects Democrats,
I just might see an opportunity to vote for Johnson without affecting the Donald v Hilda race.

This is a whole other set of problems, if you ask me.

You live in a Swing State, where I'll admit that I would have a hard time taking my own advice... But the majority of the Country doesn't live in a swing state and so their vote of dissension on election day literally doesn't matter in a two party system. I'm a liberal living in Georgia. I could write-in Mickey Mouse and the outcome of my vote, and the voters like me, wouldn't change anything for Georgia or the General Election, would it? The only thing that dissenting votes are good for now are garnering support for third party runs so that they are allowed on the debate stage with the other two party figure heads. (and maybe for funding.)

The system that we all seem to accept is necessarily isolating to huge swaths of our population. Like I said, we are, as a whole, throwing away the power of our collective voice.

Donald Trump is the person you're voting for in November not because you actually think he's the best choice for holding the most powerful position in the world, but because he's not Hillary Clinto... The fact that you even have to entertain that line of thought seems ridiculous to me. I think it should seem that way to everyone.

 

[YmirGF]

If everyone did this, we would have a viable third party candidate and @Revoltingest could retire happy!

Exactly. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you don't vote for your third party candidate they will never be a force to be reckoned with. It's not throwing your vote away. It's playing the long game. Real change is rarely on a revolutionary scale and is more often an incremental thing.

 

[Revoltingest]

Donald Trump is the person you're voting for in November not because you actually think he's the best choice for holding the most powerful position in the world, but because he's not Hillary Clinto... The fact that you even have to entertain that line of thought seems ridiculous to me. I think it should seem that way to everyone.

Of course, that is to misrepresent my reasons for voting as I plan.