I turned 18 this year and I can finally vote. I registered as a Libertarian, though I'm not a partisan follower of the party and will definitely split my ballot during my life, I liked the idea of them over the summer and received my ballot this week. Voting is a privilege, and I fully intend to exercise my right. But I must admit that I was not as excited to mail in my ballot as I had hoped to be. You see, I am not a fan of either of the two major party candidates. Trump seems impulsive and crass. Clinton appears as dishonest and someone who will do or say anything just to get into office. The two third party candidates on the ballot in my state are not the best either. Johnson, while having a clean record, is not extremely popular within the libertarian party and has memory blunders once in a while. (For the record, there are worse things than forgetting what Aleppo is, like “grabbing them by the p****” or deleting all of your government emails which are being investigated by the FBI, again.). Jill Stein and I do not line up very well on several issues, so she is out as well.

But I realized something. I live in Oregon, which is a solid blue state. Where I live, my vote will not necessarily matter in the presidential election because all of the electoral votes will go to Clinton regardless. Unless there is a major political shift, which has not happened in Oregon, I can vote my conscience instead of choosing the lesser of two evils.

I voted for Gary Johnson. No, he is not my favorite candidate, but I have a reason behind this. I want the Libertarian party to grow and keep the two major parties on their toes. I want to get the popular vote up for a third party candidate. As time has gone on in past years, more and more people are registering as independents. Obviously, the GOP and the Dems are not representing the American people adequately anymore. A third party, like the Libertarian party which has some democratic and some republican elements, could increase voter turnout and diversify our politics.

To be honest, I put more though into voting for my local positions of power than the president. My vote carries more weight in local elections, and they also directly affect me. So within all of the presidential mess of 2016, please pay attention to your local battles.