Why voting for a third party candidate is not a wasted vote

Chris Stevens ’18

My name is Chris Stevens, and yes, I’m voting third party.

For me, there are two reasons a person votes. Obviously, the first is to get a representative elected. The second reason, now more relevant than ever, is to bring focus to a cause in order to enact change for the future. Voting for an extreme you do not believe in can only result in the perpetuation of those same ideas you dissent from.

As a college student, a registered Republican, a social liberal, a supporter of the military and second amendment, and a proponent of a whole host of seemingly contradictory opinions, I do not fall neatly into one of two absolutes. My support for Governor Gary Johnson is based on the idea that the two parties should not be forced to cater to the extreme 30 percent of their primary election voting base; they should instead be catering to the other end of the spectrum, the end that has mixed feelings, new opinions, and is willing to compromise.

A strong third party turnout does more than say, “I am not satisfied with the two prominent options;” it says, “If you want my vote, move towards center and address my issues, or we can find someone that will.”

Libertarianism is about a belief in the highest degree of personal freedom in every aspect of your life. Nobody, especially the government, should be able to dictate your private affairs, quash your entrepreneurial spirit, or take your hard-earned money to squander it on something you do not believe in. The pithy saying that has come to be associated with the platform sums it up best, “Out of your pocket and out of your bedroom!” Governors Johnson and Weld have used the recent popularity of the Libertarian platform to bring attentions to some most ubiquitous grievances that Americans, specifically, young Americans, have.

A non-interventionist policy of only judicious use of the military is something that has resonated with me in particular. As a 20-something, it is my peers, my friends, myself, and my siblings that would be risking their lives by enlisting. Johnson has pledged to get the approval of Congress—as was always intended in the Constitution—a source more connected to the people, before ordering my generation to fight, kill, and all too often die.

In healthcare, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, is headed into what is called a death spiral and will not last in its current form. The Libertarian solution of free market health care allows providers to compete at all levels and across state lines for your business, resulting in higher quality and lower cost care for everyone, not just those at the top or at the bottom. Lowering taxes would allow citizens to keep their own money; balancing the budget would alleviate the impending debt on youth; and opening up trade would allow new ideas and goods to be exchanged faster and cheaper than ever. The Libertarian stance is one that combines the best ideas of both the current parties, fiscal responsibility and social tolerance of all.

The most common reproach I hear from voters on both sides of the aisle is that I am wasting my vote—throwing away my right and letting the other guys win. For me, a Libertarian vote is not a throw away. It is not a vote for the other guy and not a waste. A wasted vote is voting for someone that you don’t believe in.

So, this November I will not be wasting my vote; instead I will be making a claim that there is path in the middle, that the ideas raised by the Libertarian candidates resonate stronger than ever, and that politicians will need to realize this path is in fact not the one less traveled. It is for this reason that I will be exercising my greatest right as an American: the right to force change and to support a belief in our liberty. I encourage you all to research, consider, and hopefully vote for Governor Johnson as well.