I’m voting for Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, in a swing state. A lot of people have told me I shouldn’t, and most of their reasons have been the same. I’d like to respond to the ones I hear the most, as I think they prevent a lot of people from considering third-party candidates who better represent their views than Democrats or Republicans.
“A vote for Jill Stein is a vote for Romney.” If I vote, I want it to be for someone I have a great deal of agreement with, not someone I sometimes agree with and mostly disagree with, like Obama. Why should I take seriously the suggestion that I should vote for someone — and change — I don’t believe in? One can turn this around, too: A vote for Obama is a vote for murdering innocent Pakistani children with drones, for neoliberal economics that hurt the world’s poor and destroy the environment, for war and state violence, and for the favoring of American military might over education and social services. Obama’s stances on those (and other) major issues are wrong, immoral and disgusting to me.
“I’d vote for Jill Stein if my voice would be heard.” Your voice is only heard if your candidate wins? If I voted for Obama, my voice wouldn’t be heard, because he’s not representative of my political views. How is supporting someone you don’t want to be president being heard? My vote isn’t a “protest vote” any more than a Republican voting for Romney over Obama is a protest vote.
“You’re throwing your vote away.” It’s a sad sign for democracy when voting for candidates one agrees with can be denigrated as “throwing away” a vote. Voting for Jill Stein has concrete goals beyond bare political expression. It contributes to the Green Party getting the 5 percent of the popular vote it needs to receive federal matching funds in the next presidential election. Also, national candidates have no reason to change their positions if they’re not losing votes. If you vote for Obama and ignore all of his conservative policies that you say you disagree with, you’re consenting to them. He has no reason to change them if they don’t result in losing your vote.
Everyone should take the time to learn about the third-party candidates and whether they better represent you. For the Green Party, look up its platform and Jill Stein’s Green New Deal online. Look up the other parties too, like the Libertarian Party. Vote for what you believe in and the country you’d like to live in, not the lesser of two evils. Voting for the lesser of two evils is why it never changes.
Stephen Pearson is a graduate student studying teacher education at Ohio University.
