With the 2024 election having occurred on Nov. 5, most of the narrative was focused on Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump. While these parties and their candidates receive most of the attention, It’s clear that one will win, but some parties are entirely forgotten.., is it worth it to vote for someone other than those two?
Katie Blume is the Political and Legislative Director for the Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania (CVPA). CVPA endorses candidates that they believe protect the environment, and their 2024 endorsements notably included no Green Party candidates, despite the party’s focus on the environment. Blume shared her thoughts on voting for a third-party candidate in Pennsylvania in 2024.
“[In] the current election–no, I don’t think that given the prominence and the laws of Pennsylvania that govern the party system [that] a third party candidate would achieve enough votes to win in Pennsylvania and other states,” Blume said.
State High government teacher Andrew Merritt shared if he thinks it’s worth it to vote third-party.
“Yes, but it’s gotta be a serious vote […] if you genuinely believe Jill Stein or the Libertarian candidate I think that’s politically courageous because you know the stakes are pretty high, especially in this election,” Merritt said.
State High senior Sean Spielvogel also shared his thoughts about voting for a third-party candidate.
“I don’t think that it would be worth it to vote for a third-party candidate, especially in this day and age where they don’t get a lot of votes in general and they’re not very popular so I don’t think I would have an impact on the bigger picture,” Spielvogel said.
Some claim that independents and third-party candidates act as spoilers because they take votes from other candidates, causing the mainstream candidates to lose elections.
For example, back in the 2000 election Republican candidate George W. Bush, Democratic candidate Albert Gore, Jr, and Green Party candidate Ralph Nader were all running for president. George W. Bush won by 5 electoral votes, he also lost the popular vote by 500,000 votes. If Nader had not run Gore would have likely received an extra 3 million votes, which would have been enough to win a state like Florida, which would have won him the election.
Merritt shared his thoughts on “spoilers”, believing it depends on whether the voter genuinely supports the candidate they are voting for.
“It depends on the person voting. Does the person genuinely believe that the candidate is the best choice, even knowing they most likely won’t win? I don’t think that is a spoiler. I would call that a democracy,” Merritt said.
Blume had a different point of view on the topic.
“I think they are [spoilers] and I think one of the best examples is the Pennsylvania election returns from 2016 for the presidential ticket,” Blume said. “You can see that between Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Jill Stein, the number of votes that Hillary Clinton lost by in Pennsylvania if people had voted for Clinton instead of Jill Stein because both of those parties are left-winged Hillary would’ve beaten Trump in PA.”
In the 2016 election featuring Republican Trump and Democrat Clinton, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania were determining states as to who would win. Clinton lost Michigan by less than half a percentage point and lost both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania by less than one point. Had Stein not run and votes for Stein went to Clinton instead, Clinton would have likely won all three states and won the election.
Although third-party candidates represent different parties, they often have similar ideas to mainstream parties on key issues. For example, typically both Republicans and Libertarians believe in limited government and free markets, while both the Green Party and many Democrats support progressive climate policy. Of course, these similarities are not comprehensive, and the parties differ on other issues.
Merritt stated that he had voted for a third-party candidate in a previous election and shared whether he would again.
“[I wouldn’t vote third party], not in this election,” Merritt said. “I only did it once; if there were someone out there serious that I believed in what they were saying and standing for, then I would do it, but I also believe in the Constitution and this [election] matters to me.”
One of the best examples of a third-party candidate’s election impact is the 1992 election when Ross Perot ran for president. Perot was running as an independent candidate against Democratic candidate Bill Clinton and the current president George H.W. Bush. Perot received nearly 20% of the votes. If Perot had not run, Bush likely would have won the election since most of the votes that Perot received would’ve gone to Bush.
If voters truly believe that a third-party candidate is the best option and most aligned with their values, they should vote for that candidate. However, due to the unlikeliness of a third-party presidency, voters should consider the impact of their vote and whether they are willing to risk “spoiling” the win of a candidate who holds similar beliefs.
