This election is probably the most talked about of all of the presidential elections I have been alive for. It seems that I cannot turn on the TV, listen to the radio, or even have a conversation without hearing about Trump and Clinton. To be honest, more often than not the conversation is not about which one is the better option to vote for, but which one would be less of a problem for our country. It seems that much of our society has unfortunately transitioned from voting for someone we are truly passionate about and think will make a great leader, to choosing “lesser of two evils”, so to speak. One of the biggest reasons for this is that we are told it is our duty to vote as Americans and that it is not right to throw away the freedom that we have in a democracy. While I agree with this, I also do not feel it is right to vote for someone you do not believe in just for the sake of voting.

Most of us have the mindset that we have a two party system consisting of the Democratic and Republican parties, and they disregard the multiple other parties such as the Green Party, the Communist Party, and the Working Families Party, to name a few. But because there is so much emphasis on the Democratic and Republican parties and hardly any publicity on the others, it is evident that the politicians running for other parties do not have a chance of winning. Therefore, voting for them is often considered “a wasted vote”. Why would you waste your vote on someone who cannot even win? However, my response to that is “why would you waste your vote on someone you do not even want to win?”

Personally, I do not see a vote for a third party candidate as a wasted vote. I see it as a chance to bring more exposure to politicians who were previously unheard of and might have something worthy to bring to the table. I think it can bring issues to light that the two main candidates might be unable to cover. I view it as a way to possibly fight against a two party system and for a new one that might allow more than two ways to think about politics. And most importantly, by voting for a third party candidate instead of a main candidate who you do not see fit, you are voicing your opinion as an American citizen and practicing the freedom you were given. So if you love Trump or Clinton by all means vote for them, but if not I urge you to do your research on other parties and see what you can find, they might surprise you!