Why people vote third party

This year, like most, the campaigning and voting in partisan offices like president, congress, and state legislature, was dominated by the two largest parties – the Democratic Farmer Labor and Republican parties.
Yet every election year some voters, including southwest residents, decided to cast their ballots for a “third” or minor party candidate.
This year, for example, in the predominately southwest districts of 61A, 61B and 62A, 2,110 people did not vote for a presidentially candidate endorsed by either of the two big parties.
It is doubtful that many of them thought their third-party candidate would actually win? Many likely heard that voting for a third-party candidate would be a “wasted vote,” but they did it anyway.
Why?
One primary reason people do not vote for a major party candidate is because they have ideological belief systems that do not align with the major party platforms. This year it was evident that many voters opposed the major parties’ support for Israel’s violent attacks on Palestine and Lebanon. Many of us may have been seeking “peace” or “anti-war” candidate and didn’t find that in either major party candidates. This made the alternates who were pushing for a ceasefire and arms embargo, including Jill Stein (Green Party) who ranked 3rd among the southwest voters, or Cornel West (Independent/Justice for All Party), Chase Oliver (Libertarian), or Claudia De la Cruz (Party for Socialism and Liberation) more appealing.
Additionally voting for third or minor-party candidates can send important messages.
In Minnesota, we have seen how single-issue minor parties and voters can help make change in government policy. It is likely that the growing number people who were willing to vote for parties focused on legalizing cannabis helped influence public opinion and legislation that ultimately led to it begin legalized in the state.
Additionally, If more of us were willing and able to vote for the candidates who most closely and accurately reflected our values and our individual interests, over the long term or government could better reflect who we are and what we value.
One of the most common arguments again voting for 3rd party is that a voter, or the public, may end up with a worse alternative than the one they most prefer. This may lead many voters to “hold their nose” and vote for the so-called “lesser of two evils.”
This, of course, was not the case this year In District 61A where there was a “minor” party candidate on the ballot for state legislature, with Toya Lopez. In that race, however, she was not really a “third” party candidate because no republican was in the race. That may have helped her get 3,200 votes and her kind of race.
There is a solution to the wasted vote problem in single winner elections like the presidency. It is called ranked choice or instant run off voting and, as many voters in Minneapolis and St. Paul know, it offers people the ability to vote for preferred candidate without fear of wasting their vote because they have the option to select a second and third choice if their first choice is not elected.
According to a PEW research Center 2022 poll, 39% of the USA people they polled said the statement “I wish there were more political parties to choose from in this country” describes their views extremely or very well. Another 32% said say it describes their views somewhat well.
While many people likely decide to vote for a third or minor-party candidate to maintain their personal integrity, register their opposition to major party positions and to send a message that might help influence policy in the future, some also hope that such voting could, in the long-run, help create a richer multi-party democracy like those seen in so many other countries throughout the world.