In a political climate that Americans are calling one of the most important for democracy, many college students are considering voting third party this election.
Many young voters are looking to create an immediate change, which is why they look to vote for third parties who push that idea.
While third parties are great in some eyes, our system isn’t built for it.
According to The Pew Research Center in Aug. 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are tied among registered voters at 49% each.
Historically by voting third party, one of the two major parties loses votes, since many voters are likely to favor either the democratic or republican party.
Voting third party impacts voting not just on a local level but also a national one.
In the 2016 elections, four states earned more votes for the third party candidate and in Florida alone, third party candidates won more than double of Donald Trump’s votes.
Many Americans attribute the win of Donald Trump because of the popular vote to Gary Johnson, a candidate that many chose over Hillary Clinton, reflecting back to the polls that Clinton was on track to win that election.
Two major third parties in this election include Green Party candidate Jill Stein and “Peoples Party” Independent candidate Cornel West.
The closest an election has seen to a third party candidate winning the presidency was Ross Perot of the Reform Party with only 19% of the popular vote, over two decades ago in the 1996 election.
Along with the popular vote, our democracy fails with the electoral college, in which a third party has little to no chance of winning but can cause a loss for a bigger candidate.
While this may seem like a small percentage, in a race that is already showing close polls, a third party vote could possibly hinder either side of the scale.
In this election, your vote does count, so if you’re planning to choose a third party, consider the facts of the race and vote for a popular candidate who reflects most of your values.
If you’re looking to make a change, vote third party in your local elections, that is where the change is made.