This election has truly become, for most of us, a choice of the lesser of two evils. But why is it that we’ve accepted the fact that only a Democrat or a Republican is worthy of being elected president? We currently have two very qualified third party candidates running in this election Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, and Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate.

The response I have received from members of the older generation when I say I’m voting for Gary Johnson have often been, “What a shame you’re wasting your vote." Why is it a waste to vote third party? In 1860, a third party candidate ran for the office of President of the United States, and that man, Abraham Lincoln, became the first Republican president in American history, and the Republican Party emerged, becoming one of the two main players in our bipartisan system.

This bipartisan system has, however, run its course. As society grows, changes, adapts and transforms, the idea that, for your opinion to count, you have to fit into one of two groups of ideology is outdated and harmful to our political process. In a country of 324 million people, with different backgrounds, cultures and ideas, people who don’t fit into the “Republican or Democrat” mold either settle for a candidate they don’t fully believe in, with ideologies they don’t support, or they don’t bother to vote at all.

Let’s take a quick look at our political candidates this year.

For the Democrats, we have Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first female Presidential candidate in one of the two major political parties. Clinton has been a divisive figure in American politics since her husband’s presidency. If elected, Clinton would be the first female president and the first spouse of a former president elected to the presidency. Her career and campaign have often been riddled with controversy for a perceived lack of integrity due to several political missteps such as her response or lack thereof to the terror attack in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the death of a US ambassador, and three other American citizens during her tenure as the Secretary of State, as well as a scandal and investigation due to her use of a private email server to send classified emails, also during her tenure as Secretary of State. She has also been accused of flip­flopping on major issues such as marriage equality and her support for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which resulted in the loss of 845,000 American manufacturing jobs to Canada and Mexico . Serious questions have been raised about Clinton’s honesty and by extension, her ability to lead the country. Someone who has been caught up so often in their own lies, like the story of her landing in Bosnia under sniper fire, makes me uncomfortable at the thought of that person being in charge of our country and having access to the nuclear codes. Plus, do we really want a presidential couple whose celebrity nickname would be “Hillbilly”? Well, technically it's “Hillbilly Lewinsky."

While on the subject of sick Berns, has anyone seen Bernie Sanders since the DNC? He looks awful; pale, gaunt, like he’s lost 20 pounds. Which, I’m assuming, is the exact weight of the human soul.

Bernie Sanders, once a leading contender for the Democratic nomination, who promised to never sell out, to keep fighting for the little guys, the common people, got on stage at the Democratic National Convention and announced his support for Hillary Clinton. This was just days after another email scandal, involving several key members of the DNP erupted. This scandal went straight to the top and resulted in Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairperson of the DNC, who was shown in the emails to be actively working against Bernie Sanders’ campaign and his supporters. Wasserman Schultz stepped down from her leadership post in the DNC and was almost immediately hired by the Clinton campaign.

One of the most disappointing things from the Bernie Sanders saga is that he had the opportunity to do something amazing. He had supporters and people who truly believed in him, and he stopped fighting. He had the makings for a powerful political movement, but at the end of the day, he bowed down to the party he had fought so hard to change.

The Republican Party has a very different story than the Democrats. They tried to fight against their nominee, but put forth such lackluster candidates that were so unprepared and unqualified for the fight that Donald Trump easily steamrolled them all. It’s hard to have much sympathy for the Republicans when they’ve had eleven years (since the second election of Bush II) to groom a candidate for the fight.

Donald Trump is like that off­color, bigoted grandparent who's had a few too many during happy hour, minus any of the redeeming qualities that make them lovable. Many Republicans are supporting Trump for his strong opinions and stances on immigration and job creation, and for the fact that he isn’t a career politician and his personal wealth has helped him from being bought by political organizations. In reality, Donald Trump is, in my opinion, a fantastic magician, and his ultimate grand finale is to make the Republican Party disappear. He’s been doing a good job of it too, as many people are fleeing like refugees to the Libertarian Party, or changing their official party affiliation to Independent.

The Green Party has been gaining traction this election season, with Jill Stein as their nominee. Unfortunately, the Green Party has historically only received less than one percent of the votes in a presidential election, but have been receiving more attention this election season due, in part, to a high level of dissatisfaction with the two main political parties.

Then, out of the southwest, comes a knight in shining armor on a horse not paid for by taxpayer money: Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, has gained heavy traction in the past few months, in direct relation to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton being the two main party candidates. With a strong economic record, taking New Mexico from economic debt to surplus during his tenure as governor, Johnson has a strong leg to stand on in this election. He has been polling close to 14 percent, one percent away from the required 15 to be included in national debates. If he makes it into the national debates, his odds become greatly increased. In a turn of events, Johnson has been polling higher than any other candidate for the under 30 vote . Many people, myself included, are finding a strong tie to the Libertarian Party, with their 4 socially liberal, fiscally conservative stances. More and more Americans find themselves more middle of the road every election cycle, and now is our chance to use our voices to express our opinions.

Regardless of what your political stance is, it is so important to get out and vote. As I tell my friends, “If you don’t vote, you don’t have a right to complain”. This year only 17% of voting age Americans voted in the primary elections. That means that we, as a country, have to stand up and change the system. As for those who say a vote for a third party candidate is a waste of a vote, I have this to say: a vote is only a waste of a vote if it’s cast without complete conviction. This November, I am proud to say that my vote will be cast with full conviction. Can you say the same?