by Jim Duncan
Follow Jim on Twitter or Medium
You know who they are. They watch only their prescribed liberal or conservative newscasts, and wear a blue or red t-shirt to cover up their rotting-corpse politics. They stink of long-deceased ideologies, and their ears and eyeballs are falling off from too much “group think.” And as soon as they catch a whiff of your independent political streak, they long to infect you with their two-party sickness.
Halloween isn’t just a time to watch out for the typical flesh-eating zombies. Every four years it also becomes essential to fend off the droves of brainwashed liberals and conservatives who lurch toward you like The Walking Dead. You’ve been in the scenario at your work-place water cooler, trying to have an intelligent discussion about how to make politics better, when one of these zombified supporters of the corrupted two-party establishment shuffles up next to you. Like always, they try to bite you with the standard guilt that a third-party vote isn’t “smart.” They moan, “it’s a wasted vote,” that will put the other two-party candidate into power. And then they try to eat your brain.
Luckily though, we created this list of three arguments to keep yourself from getting infected by two-party propaganda-spewing zombies this fall, and maybe even force that decomposing Republican or Democrat to justify how they are not actually the one “wasting their vote.”
Granted, maybe the particular zombie you are cornered by truly believes either Trump or Clinton is the best individual to become the most powerful person in the history of the world. In that case, just bash them over the head with a brick and run; they’re a lost cause.
If, however, there is any glimmer of recognition left in their diseased eyes that Trump and Clinton are both extremely flawed leaders, then maybe explain to your smelly friend that there’s still a chance that neither has to win. Since the presidential election is actually determined by the Electoral College, it gives a real opportunity for a candidate who has not won a majority of the popular vote to become president. In fact, it might just take one state (I’m looking at you, Utah).
If neither mainstream presidential candidate receives 270 electoral votes, then the Electoral College is considered “locked,” and no one is immediately declared the winner. If this happens, then the House of Representatives picks the next President from the three highest vote-getters of the electoral vote. Obviously, Hillary and Trump would still be two of these three, but the third would be the highest vote-getter of the other candidates. The House could, of course, still choose either the Republican or Democratic candidate as president, but given how historically unpopular both are, there is probably the greatest chance in American history that the House would choose the third party.
Yes, this is a long shot, but it is an actual possibility. And it potentially only takes one state. So ask that moaning two-party zombie sniffing at you as to why they don’t want their vote potentially matter rather than just supporting the status quo. Maybe your state can go down in history as the one that saved the country from both Hillary and Trump, and launched us into a new error of political accountability?
“But it will never happen,” the zombie will probably moan while clumsily swiping at your throat. “And voting third party will help that liar ____ (fill in Trump or Hillary’s name here depending on whether your zombie has a nose ring or a NASCAR hat) could then win! Every vote counts! Groan. Groan. Don’t waste your vote!”
But just bat that rotting hand away from you, my friend, and hit that half-dead politico with your second point…
2) Unless you live in Florida or Ohio, voting Republican or Democrat is actually the “wasted vote.”
Very few states appear to still be (a) closely contested, and (b) have enough electoral votes for your vote to mathematically matter. Florida and Ohio are two states that do actually fit this description, and therefore if you live in one of these states it could intelligently be argued that you should pick between your opinion of the “lesser of two evils” from the Republican and Democratic candidates. If you are not in Florida or Ohio, however, it is most likely that your vote for a Republican or Democrat will not mathematically matter to the outcome of the election. Why would you rather not make an actual impact with your vote then, than to simply cast it for or against an already won race?
Landslides like this election give more justification than ever for why now is a uniquely perfect time to vote third party. Your third party vote would make a huge difference for the future of political choice in this country. If you can’t affect the actual outcome of the election with your vote, you can at least serve notice to the corrupted two-party system that you are demanding they change for the future. You can check where the electoral battlegrounds are just before Election Day by going here. If you are not in a tightly contested state, then cast your vote in the only way that will potentially make a difference, for a third party.
“It won’t matter though,” the zombie will probably groan again so hard that their nose falls off. “Nobody else will vote third party! It’s a waste!”
And sure, if you let the zombie infect you with this thinking, then it absolutely stays true. If no one ever votes third party, the two main parties have no incentive to change. If, however, there were many third party votes across the country, it would send a signal to the Republican and Democrats that change must take place in the future. Once enough people start voting with courage on principle, it will quickly destroy the anti-third party vote going forward.
Plus, no matter what your zombie thinks, even a relatively small amount of third party voters could end up having real benefits, leading us to argument number three…
3) Matching federal campaign funds are given for the 2020 election if a third-party gets just 5% of the vote in this election.
If a third-party candidate garners just 5% of the popular vote in the 2016 election, which ain’t much, they will then be eligible for “major party” status from the federal government for the next election cycle.
This is huge boost for helping a third alternatives emerge in the future, and helps to make sure we have more options in 2020. This year, for instance, as the beautiful and talented Liberty Laura explains (video here) it would have meant an additional $9 million dollars going to the Libertarians, which could have radically changed the entire way this current race played. You can also read more about how important the 5% threshold is to changing the system for the future by going to this summary from the Independent Voters Network.
If only more people had courage in 2012, and not bought into the two-party zombie groans, we might be in a better position now. Let’s not make the same mistake this time. If no one ever votes third party, then these two sh*tty choices for President are all we will ever have, but this election you have a chance for your vote to actually mean something. Instead of voting for a candidate that you know sucks, why not lay the ground work for real change to happen in the country going forward? Isn’t that the best thing you can do with your single vote: a far more patriotic thing to do for your country, than go along in lockstep with the two parties that have proven themselves ineffectual and corrupt through the recent decades?
Now just jab that walking corpse in the eye, and get the hell away from them before they tell you what they learned on cable news. You should know better than to try to have a sensible conversation with a Republican or Democrat.
James R Duncan’s novel, Blood Republic, is a fictional thriller about two-party corruption breaking the country into a second civil war of Republicans vs Democrats. It can be found at Amazon, and other major retailers. You can follow Jim on Twitter or Medium.