What is a Wasted Vote?

Today in the United States the election system is primarily based on two main political parties, Republicans and Democrats. There are various other political parties such as the Green party, and the Libertarian party, but they are rarely voted for. This raises the question of why. In our current political state most people see voting for third party candidates as a waste of a vote. The general consensus is that only a member of the two primary parties can win, so why vote for someone you know won’t win.

                The main question that comes to mind here is what is defined as a wasted vote. Is it voting for someone you know has no chance to win? Or perhaps most Americans are already wasting their votes by choosing between the lesser of two evils. In this video by a third party candidate in the 2008 election Chuck Baldwin explains the stereotypes that go along with voting for a third party, along with what he thinks is the actual definition of a wasted vote. In the United States when we’re not happy with government we continue to flip flop between Republicans and Democrats in power when we should be looking to other views. Most Americans continue to vote the same way or flip from one side to the other every four years still finding no chance. If you ask me that’s the perfect example of a wasted vote. Instead of placing our vote for the candidate we think most definitely lines up with our view points and beliefs we choose to vote for one of two “should win” candidates solely on the fact they’re in one of the two major parties. If the United States is ever going to move away our current two party rut we’ll have to change a lot of stereotypes about our votes and whether or not they are wasted.

                In this article by Brad C.L. he explains some of the hardships for third party candidates getting their message to voters and name on the ballots. There are several factors that greatly contribute to the third parties in America being less known, liked, and voted for. One of the main factors is simply media exposure. The candidates don’t get the same amount of time or attention from news corporations or media outlets simply because they are in a third party. This causes people to be less informed about their policies and who they are. Another hardship is getting on states ballots. It’s difficult for the candidates to gain the support needed to be on all the states ballots especially considering that most require signed petitions given to each state before they are eligible for the ballots. The greatest hardship may be the American psyche though. We have the overwhelming thought that if they’re not Red or\ Blue, they have no chance so we shouldn’t waste our votes.

                If America wants to see real change in our country we need to change our views about voting down party lines. We need to find a candidate that we like and that we want to represent us in government, not just hop on a bandwagon and hope we vote for the winner so our vote counts. In my opinion the biggest waste of a vote is using it on a candidate you don’t completely support. So let’s stop wasting our votes on the same cycle over and over and move on to voting by our personal decision, not by what the majority of polls or stereotypes tell us.