Know Your Other Options
If you, like me, are disappointed that in your first presidential election you have to choose between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and are at a loss, fear not! I am here to tell you that there are other options out there. You do not have to choose either of them, you could vote for a third party candidate.
While many people would argue that voting for a third party in the American system is basically throwing your vote away, I disagree. The only way to throw your vote away is to not vote. It’s true that a third party candidate has less of chance of being elected than a major party’s candidate, but voting is about so much more than just winning. Voting is our way to participate in the government and voice our opinions.
Below I have assembled a list of third party candidates and a brief overview of their platforms. Please note, this list is from my Minnesota absentee ballot so, these are all the third party candidates that appear on Minnesota’s ballot. Other state’s ballots may have additional parties or some of the ones below may not appear. Remember that you can always write in a candidate if they do not appear on your state’s ballot.
Darrell Castle and Scott Bradley- Constitution Party
Darrell Castle’s campaign website, castle2016.com, details the 5 most important points of his platform. The first one is adherence to the constitution, as the name of the party suggests, this is a very important part of Castle’s platform. His other main platform points are withdrawal from the United Nations, Ending the Federal Reserve, getting rid of Agenda 21 and enacting Pro-Life legislation.
Dan R. Vacek and Mark Elworth, Jr.- Legal Marijuana Now
Dan Vacek and Mark Elworth will only appear on ballots in Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska but can be written in on ballots in other states. According to the party’s website, legalcannabisnow.org, the main goals of the party are to legalize homegrown cannabis, erase past marijuana convictions and ban employment drug testing.
Alyson Kennedy and Osbourne Hart- Socialist Workers Party
According to ‘The Militant’, a socialist newspaper, Alyson Kennedy strives to organize independent working-class struggles that point toward overturning the dictatorship of capital, replacing it with a government of workers and farmers and building a new society based on human solidarity.
Jill Stein and Howie Hawkins- Green Party
Jill Stein’s “Power to the People Plan” involves several key points including a green new deal, an end to poverty, providing health care and education as a right, increasing freedom and equality and empowering the people.
“Rocky” Roque De La Fuente and Michael Steinberg- American Delta Party
Roque De La Fuente combines ideas from the two main political parties in the US to form a unique platform. Some of his main ideas, according to rocky2016.com, are to limit the US’s involvement in foreign affairs, limit government spending and increase the quality and availability of education in the US.
Evan McMullin and Nathan Johnson- Independence
Evan McMullin and the Nathan Johnson are the third most likely partnership to win the presidency behind the republican and democratic nominees. Some of their main platform stances as stated on their website, evanmcmullin.com, are helping people get out of poverty, keeping government spending responsible, providing all American’s access to affordable health care, protecting the 2nd amendment and protecting life at all stages.
Gary Johnson and William Weld- Libertarian Party
Gary Johnson is currently trying to gain enough support to join the third presidential debate. His main goals, gathered from his website johnsonweld.com, if elected are to limit government spending, reform tax codes, protect civil liberties and reform the criminal justice system.
Whoever you decide to vote for, whether it’s a main party or third party candidate, the most important thing is that you go vote. Let your voice be heard!