Anyone following my blog (or who has had political discussions with me) know that I routinely vote third party when that option is available to me. Since that option has always been available at the presidential level, I have not voted for either the Democrat or Republican presidential candidate except for the first (and possibly second) time I was able to vote.

I grew up in a family and environment that was predominantly Republican, so during the 1984 election (Reagan reelection) which was the first election I was able to vote in, it came naturally to vote Republican. I do not remember for sure who I voted for in my second election (the 1988 election), so it is possible that I voted Republican that year as well. However, by that time I was already beginning to look elsewhere.

By 1992, my political beliefs were becoming increasingly more important to me and by that time I realized that I was neither Republican or Democrat. That year I voted for Ross Perot. My political beliefs were not yet fully formed, so my vote for him was less a desire to have him in office, and more as an acknowledgement that I was NOT Republican or Democrat. By the 1996 election, my political beliefs were well formed (though they have continued to mature), and 1996 was the first time I voted Libertarian. Since that election, I have never voted for either of the primary two candidates. The only time I seriously considered voting main party was for Mitt Romney in 2012, but at that time, I felt very strongly that the only clear way to have my voice heard was to vote for the party I supported, so I chose to vote for the Libertarian candidate.

I do not have any major regrets about my voting record. As with most people, it took time for me to develop the political beliefs that I hold today, so I look at these votes as a path that I have followed, and will continue to follow.

Now one unfortunate aspect of this path is that that means that I am voting for candidates that receive a very small percentage of the votes. Of the candidates that I have voted for since 1996, the most that any of my candidates have received was the Libertarian Gary Johnson in 2016 who received 3.3% of the popular vote. Several of the candidates that I have voted for have received less than 1%.

As a direct result of this (coupled with the fact that I have always been very vocal about my vote), the question I have been asked many times is: am I wasting my vote? I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been asked that question by people who clearly believe that I am. And, to be fully honest, I have asked myself the same question and I don’t think that the answer to that question is fully clear.

The primary argument that is used by those who want to convince me that I am wasting my vote is this: since (currently) the only realistic outcome of a presidential election is that either the Democrat or Republican will win, then I should work within that framework and choose the one which appeals to me the most. In other words, I should work from the inside where I might stand of chance of getting some change enacted.

In the interest of full disclosure: I consider this argument completely reasonable and valid! It is a very good argument that clearly supports the idea that I should vote either Democrat or Republican. I should carefully analyze both of the main candidates and vote for the one which has some movement in the direction I hope for.

My problem is that in my experience, neither of the candidates is moving the country in the direction that I want it to go. I want to go North but the Republicans want to go Southwest and the Democrats want to go Southeast. Which is better? Historically, that’s been a question that I have never been able to come up with a satisfactory answer.

Historically, the philosophy of the Republican party aligned closer to my beliefs than the Democratic party. I discussed this in a recent post https://blog.sullybeck.com/index.php/2024/08/21/party-alignment/ . Unfortunately, I also rank a Republican president (W. Bush) as the single worst president we have ever had (see https://blog.sullybeck.com/index.php/2016/10/06/still-voting-libertarian/). So, should I have voted for him because his platform was closer to mine than his opponents (Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004)? I didn’t (for either election), and I am extremely glad that my name is not on the list of people who elected him. Mind you, I didn’t want the Democratic nominee in either of those cases, and their platform was even further from my own, but in hindsight, I believe that neither would have done the damage to this country that W. Bush did, so perhaps I should have voted for them.

So, my main party choice is between two candidates, both of whom I feel will both lead the country further away from my goal which is to have a government fully dedicated to securing my rights. If I saw a candidate which actually had a platform that would make significant steps towards that, I would strongly consider voting for them. Unfortunately, I do not see that in either of the candidates in this election, nor have I seen that in other recent elections.

So, based on my view of the candidates, a vote for either would constitute a vote for the lesser of two evils. Perhaps even worse in my mind is that there is no way to recognize my vote (for the two main candidates) for what it actually would be. If I vote for one of those candidates, does that vote reflect support for that candidate… or merely opposition to the other candidate. It is extremely important to me that my vote show what I really want.

Given the fact that neither candidate is pushing a platform that I wish to see enacted, and given that I do NOT want my vote to be counted as supporting that platform, I really do not see voting for them as a good option. When I vote, I DO want my vote to represent what I truly want. I’ve actually had some argue that I shouldn’t vote at all, but again, I want my vote to be seen for what it is. A non-vote cannot be interpreted correctly. It could be just laziness or apathy. I don’t want my vote to be counted as such, because I am absolutely not apathetic or lazy about politics. A far better option would be to cast a ballot with no vote for either candidate. At least that says: I’m interested in voting, but there’s nobody here that I feel I can support.

I would welcome either of the main candidates to support a platform that moves things closer to what I want (a country where rights are secured, and government control of my life is minimized). If a candidate ever adopts such a platform, I will strongly consider voting for them. If they don’t, I cannot in good conscience cat my vote for them.

Let me tell you two things that would strongly make me consider voting for one of the mainstream candidates.

Recently, Senator Peter Welch (a Democrat from Vermont) and Representatives Jamie Raskin (a Democrat from Maryland) and Don Beyer (a Democrat from Virginia) reintroduced the Ranked Choice Voting Act in Congress. I am very much in favor of Ranked Choice voting as it would allow me to say (as a voter) that my preference is candidate A, but if I have to choose between candidates B and C, my preference is B. This allows me to cast a vote for a third party and still have a say in the election between the two main parties. With ranked choice voting, my vote would NEVER be wasted because, in one ballot, I can say who I favor overall AND who I favor between the main parties. With some voter education, this would allow third parties an opportunity to have supporters vote for them without being faced with the question of whether they are wasting their vote. You can find a more detailed description of ranked choice voting here: https://fairvoteaction.org/advocacy-priorities/ranked-choice-voting/ . A discussion on the Ranked Choice voting act is available https://raskin.house.gov/2024/9/raskin-beyer-welch-bill-would-bring-ranked-choice-voting-to-congressional-elections-across-america and https://www.welch.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Ranked-Choice-Voting-Act.pdf . If you can support this, here is a link to send an email to your senators and representatives encouraging them to support this: https://p2a.co/fdx3C8X .

If Kamala Harris were to throw her full support behind this bill, that would be enough for me to vote for her. Since this bill was introduced by three Democrats, I don’t believe there is any possibility that Trump would support it, but Harris could potentially back this. If she did, I would consider that such an important move in the right direction that I would probably vote for her.

Another possible reason for me to vote main party would be if they said that they would revamp the presidential debates to give every party that would be on the ballot equal representation in the debates and abolish the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). I talked about the CPD here: https://blog.sullybeck.com/index.php/2020/08/26/vote-third-party/

So, I would be willing to ‘work from the inside’ if either party promised some movement towards supporting third parties, because some of those third party voices are advocating for securing our rights. Others are advocating for other causes that need to be heard. This would be a step in the right direction. True, I’d still prefer the candidate from my party, but I AM willing to ‘work from the inside’ if that possibility is available to me.

I welcome comments with arguments why voting for a 3rd party is a good idea or a bad one.