Hellobee Boards

I'll chime in. I do not live in a swing state whatsoever, so the whole "wasted vote" thing doesn't really bother me, since my vote pretty much doesn't matter regardless. Texas is going to go red. Like I said in the other thread, I got fed up with the notion of feeling like I am forced to choose between the lesser of two evils, and I chose to flex my voting rights by choosing neither, and going with a candidate that actually has platforms and policy ideas that I wholeheartedly support. I feel happy with my vote and I'm glad that I was able to send one in for someone I genuinely agree with.

@highwire: This exactly. Except my state is solidly blue. But my vote still wouldn't make a difference between Obama/Romney.

It's best to choose between Obama or Romney even if you hate them both, but it's not necessarily a wasted vote.

@Modern Daisy: just curious, why do you think it's best to choose between those two candidates?

@sloaneandpuffy: This, also.

I'm not in a swing state per se but in this election I think there are many states that will be closer than predicted and I think if you care about whether the president is Obama or Romney, you should vote for one of them no matter your state. I guess if you really don't care, which I can't imagine, then it doesn't matter.

@JerricaBenton: agreed.

So for me I know either Romney or Obama is going to win. If Obama wins I would kick myself for voting 3rd party and not helping Romney win. That's how I see it. A third party vote or write-in or not voting is voting for whoever ends up winning. If anyone understands my thinking.

@anonysquire: What about the electoral college though?

I vote by political party that best represents my views; since the party as whole has the power, not the individual candidate.

Came across this on facebook. Really interesting. I'm still planning on voting for Obama but my results were in order: stein, Johnson, Obama, Goode, Romney.

I really hate the two party system we've got and would love to see that change. In the past I've voted for third party candidates. This year though, it's Obama. Can't really say why, i live in a solid blue state, but I just feel like it's important to vote for him this year. *shrugs*

As someone who votes third party (and I am SUPER pumped about Jill Stein this year!!!), I don't consider my vote wasted. I like to think of it as a vote for the long-term, instead. Imo, a vote for Romney or Obama is a vote for the immediate decision of presidency. Obviously, one of them will win, so people who vote for one of those two candidates will be the deciding factor as to who wins this presidential race.

For myself, though, and a lot of other third party voters, the two-party system just isn't cutting it. I hear a lot of people complain that they don't fully support either candidate but they're voting for the "lesser of two evils." In an ideal world we'd have more than two viable options and people would vote for the candidate they most truely identify with.

I think my third party vote is helping us move towards that ideal world. A lot of people think a third party vote is wasted, but it's not because each time a third party gets a vote, they get that much more publicity. Did you know that when a third party gets 5% of the popular vote in an election they then qualify for matching funds from the federal government?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matching_funds (Check out the political section)

Every time someone votes for a third party that party gets more recognition and starts reaching a larger audience who may then vote for them in the next election, so every third party vote (to me) is a move towards expanding the current two-party system. It may not decide the immediate presidential race, but it will have an effect in the way our country runs it's elections in the long-term.

I'm voting for Obama, but I do vote under a third-party when I vote because I believe strongly that we should have more than two parties. In NY I vote under the Working Families Party, it's a progressive political party--they usually endorse the candidate I believe in and are on the ballot.

I've voted third party in the past. I always thought of it as a vote more in line with my ideals than the two major players. But, I'm an Ohio voter and this year chose one of the two major candidates. I've got a feeling that it's going to come down to a few hundred votes, and I really don't like one of the candidates, so I voted for the other.

I don't believe that it's necessarily a wasted vote, but I think people who are voting third party should be aware of which candidate -- if any -- their vote might tip the election in favor of. And if they're OK with that or don't care otherwise, then it's all good. It just bothers me when people are voting for a third party in a situation where a vote for them is a vote TOWARD a candidate they would very much not support.