# Let's go nuts: Voting third-party **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 18, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117 "2016-05-18T21:27:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pieceoftheuniverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7993a0/32.png) [@pieceoftheuniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pieceoftheuniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/1 "2016-05-18T21:27:06Z")
I’ve seen a few people, frustrated with the current election cycle, say that they’d prefer to vote third-party than cast their vote for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. OK, then. Let’s take a look at the current crop: Presumptive Green Party Candidate: [Jill Stein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Stein) [ul] [li]Supports renewable energy projects[/li][li]30% reduction of the military[/li][li]Supports increase of taxes on the rich[/li][li]Pro-choice[/li][li]Calls President Obama (and Clinton) a “servant of Wall Street”[/li][li]Highly critical of Israel[/li][/ul] Presumptive Libertarian Candidate: [Gary Johnson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Johnson) [ul] [li]Governor of New Mexico[/li][li]Supports school voucher programs[/li][li]Wants to slash funding for Medicare, Medicade, and Social Security[/li][li]Pro-choice[/li][li]Once described as the “original Tea Party candidate” (whatever that means)[/li][/ul] Constitution Party Candidate: [Darrell Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Castle) [ul] [li]Supports "securing our borders[/li][li]Advocates the US leaving NATO and the UN[/li][li]Has unspecified health concerns (the reason he dropped out of this race initially, but now he’s back in)[/li][/ul] That’s it for the ones that might, possibly, in an alternate Earth without a two-party system, have a chance. Other contenders who you may see on the ballot are: [ul] [li][Wiley Drake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiley_Drake)[/li][li][James Hedges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hedges)[/li][li][Tom Hoefling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Hoefling)[/li][li][Robert Ornelas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ornelas)[/li][li][Gloria La Riva](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_La_Riva)[/li][/ul] So who would _you_ vote for? And why? ---
**Author:** ![Unix\_Geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unix_geek/32/19368_2.png) [@Unix\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unix_Geek)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/2 "2016-05-19T16:16:58Z")
Live in Texas… not turning blue until at least 2028, so I can afford to vote for the Green party. I’m hoping that they will stand up on the left as the Republicans slide of the cliff to the right. Would love to see the Democrats become the “center” party and the the Green become a viable left party. But that only happens over time and with ballet access. So a vote for the Green party on all candidates where the Republicans are going to win here in Texas serves that purpose of keeping them to a certain percentage that keeps them on the ballet here. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/3 "2016-05-19T16:22:58Z")
Jill Stein would be my choice. The Constitution Party is too isolationist for my taste, leaving the UN is disqualifying. Libertarianism is in my view an immoral philosophy and there are good reasons that it has never caught on anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/4 "2016-05-19T17:00:21Z")
> [@Unix\_Geek](#): > > Live in Texas… not turning blue until at least 2028, so I can afford to vote for the Green party. I’m hoping that they will stand up on the left as the Republicans slide of the cliff to the right. Would love to see the Democrats become the “center” party and the the Green become a viable left party. But that only happens over time and with ballet access. So a vote for the Green party on all candidates where the Republicans are going to win here in Texas serves that purpose of keeping them to a certain percentage that keeps them on the ballet here. Too bad the Greens let Nader use them. They lost my vote forever. For now, I’m a Yellow Dog Democrat. There are some local offices where my vote \*will \*count. Even if Texas stays Red for now, I want the world to know I live in [one of the Blue spots](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/camelswithhammers/2012/11/coloring-the-electoral-map-by-district-population-density-and-partisan-split/). (That is, most of the cities.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/5 "2016-05-19T17:00:51Z")
Surprising that there are no flavors of socialists there but La Riva and the communist PSL. The Socialist Party doesn’t even bother any more? ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/6 "2016-05-19T17:49:32Z")
As as interested Australian observer I have to point out that if you are in a safe D/R state then it’s a perfectly valid technique to vote third party as a protest vote. It won’t effect the outcome and you’re not wasting your vote, it sends a message that you disagree with both of the mainstream parties. And I hope that one day you get a proper preferential voting system like we have so that you can vote whoever you want first and then D/R as a second preference and still have your vote count, even in swing states. ---
**Author:** ![DerekMichaels00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/7 "2016-05-19T17:57:08Z")
don’t waste your vote. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/8 "2016-05-19T18:34:20Z")
Can’t do it. They’re all useless bloody ninnies. None of the above. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/9 "2016-05-19T18:43:25Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Too bad the Greens let Nader use them. How so? All the attention I paid during that election was to believe that he pulled votes away from the Democratic candidate. He did seem hell bent on running despite the damage to the Democrats. I thought that he and the Green Party had the same agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/10 "2016-05-19T18:51:16Z")
If Hillary is not on the ballot, I’ll probably be voting for the Libertarian. Or maybe the Green. Of course, I wouldn’t vote for either if they had a chance of winning–the point of me voting third party is to register a protest against the top two parties. Definitely not Trump nor Sanders. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/11 "2016-05-19T19:27:53Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Can’t do it. They’re all useless bloody ninnies. None of the above. Hey! Even useless bloody ninnies deserve representation! IF there were no Republican or Democratic party, of those listed I would vote for Jill Stein. Of those, the Green Party positions overlap the most with mine on the Venn diagram. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/12 "2016-05-19T19:48:08Z")
Jill Stein is against nuclear power. I can’t vote for a Green candidate that’s against nuclear power so if I was going to go third party it would be Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/13 "2016-05-19T21:16:02Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > Jill Stein is against nuclear power. I can’t vote for a Green candidate that’s against nuclear power so if I was going to go third party it would be Johnson. Johnson is against Medicare and Social Security; that’s a hell of a lot worse. ---
**Author:** ![pieceoftheuniverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7993a0/32.png) [@pieceoftheuniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pieceoftheuniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/14 "2016-05-20T00:07:43Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Surprising that there are no flavors of socialists there but La Riva and the communist PSL. The Socialist Party doesn’t even bother any more? I get the impression that the Socialist Party hit some hard times in the late fifties, and there have been a couple of further ideological splits that makes it unlikely for them to work together to get a candidate on the ballot. They now share members between: [ul] [li]Citizens Freedom Party[/li][li]Socialist Equality Party[/li][li]Socialist Party USA[/li][li]Socialist Workers Party[/li][li]Workers World Party[/li][li]Party for Socialism and Liberation[/li][/ul] … and various people that just call themselves “Independent,” with no declared loyalty to any party. According to [this page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_third_party_and_independent_presidential_candidates,_2016#No_ballot_access), the various spin-offs of the once-great Socialist movement have not been able to amass enough signatures to get their candidates on the ballot in even a small number of states. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/15 "2016-05-20T03:05:01Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Surprising that there are no flavors of socialists there but La Riva and the communist PSL. The Socialist Party doesn’t even bother any more? La Riva (if she’s still with the Socialist Workers’ Party) is communist too. The SWP started out Trotskyist and is now more or less garden-variety Communist. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/16 "2016-05-20T20:57:01Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Johnson is against Medicare and Social Security; that’s a hell of a lot worse. I dunno…one of the four basic tenets of the Green Party is eco-wisdom (or something like that) and they can’t even get that part right. They’re probably for GMO labeling. So no. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/17 "2016-05-21T01:22:27Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > And I hope that one day you get a proper preferential voting system like we have so that you can vote whoever you want first and then D/R as a second preference and still have your vote count, even in swing states. I usually vote wacky first, knowing that if it goes to preferences my vote still counts. Few wacksters have made themselves known at this point however, rather dull. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/18 "2016-05-21T19:39:10Z")
The US Green Party is [is against GMO](http://www.gp.org/ecological_sustainability/#esAgriculture): _We advocate shifting price supports and government subsidies to organic food products so that they will be competitive with chemically produced food. We believe that everyone, not just the wealthy, must be able to afford safe and healthy food._ and _We urge the banning of sewage sludge or hazardous wastes as fertilizer, and of irradiation and the use of genetic engineering in all food production._ Stupid and anti-science. Bring on the libertarians. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/19 "2016-05-22T03:06:39Z")
A single issue voter and that issue is GMOs? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117/20 "2016-05-22T04:02:18Z")
For me, I vote for Libertarians if I can’t find anything to vote for or against in either of the two major party candidates. (In this election, I’ll be voting for whoever has the best chance of beating Trump because he’s such a major disaster.) I don’t base this on a like for Libtertarians though - I would absolutely not want anyone remotely like a Libertarian as president, but they don’t have a chance to win so I don’t have to worry about that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-go-nuts-voting-third-party/755117.md?page=2)