When it comes to politics are you not really left or right but somewhere in between? Are you one of the people that's only voting for Hillary/Trump because you absolutely don't want the other one to win? Picking the lesser of two evils as most call it. Or are you someone who's considering not voting anyway because you don't feel like your vote even matters? Well there is something else you could do: vote third party! Sure some say it's just throwing your vote away but I'm going to say they are wrong.

Why is it that with many people we have this desire to vote for the "winner" instead of the candidate that aligns most with our values? I get that compromise is needed at times but why is it that so early on into the primaries people like to automatically follow the big two parties instead of also focusing on other smaller parties like the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, etc.? There are many other countries that have democracy but have closer public elections among 3 or more parties. Yes, third party candidates rarely win or possibly never depending on how you look at history (the Lincoln "third party" debate) but there are many factors that go into elections that to blame election results majorly on the basis of if there is a contending third party candidate in my opinion (speaking mostly about the Bush-Gore-Nader 2000 Election). Of course it has an effect, but there are so many facets of the way U.S. Presidential Elections are run that Bush's Presidency cannot be attributed solely to Nader's campaign, one reason being the Electoral College to be specific. To make sure your preferred candidate gets to the Big Debates you have to be an active voter and supporter early on and do polls and talk to others about the candidate. Sure politics can be hard to talk about sometimes but as long as you're respectful and don't be too pushy I find it can be quite gratifying and help you understand people better.

With the Electoral College deciding the President and Vice President then it is our job to vote and influence local elected officials and others to vote for those Third Party candidates. With more support the candidates and their parties would gain more attention and a greater following allowing them to participate in debates and have a chance at the Oval Office. Even if they don't win, for them to be in the debates would help guide the way to more open elections and keep the Republican and Democrat candidates on their toes. Now I don't know who I'm voting for yet, I haven't done enough research on the candidates, but so far from what I've seen I would be really interested in seeing the third party candidates in the debates. If Bernie could help inspire some changes to Hillary's platform, maybe losing some polling points to another candidate would help further change her platform to something the public would like to see. The only way to influence the Electoral College to vote third party at this point is to help influence the popular vote to regularly increase third party popularity among voters and inspire the public to be more active on the smaller scales. So no matter what you do, there is no excuse to not vote; to ensure your voice is heard is to continuously voice your opinions instead of remaining silent or continuously compromising.