politics

In this scenario, why are we assuming that the 25% that are voting third party would prefer Harris over Trump?

This is what I keep saying. It's like my scenario with the Class President. A Nerd and a Jock are running. 51 kids are nerds and don't want the Jock. 49 kids are jocks and don't want the Nerd. Pretty clear that the Nerd wins, because more people don't want the Jock than the Nerd, right? Wrong. If the Jock can peel just THREE votes off from the nerd coalition, the Jocks win it and D&D night is cancelled.

Now re-read that and replace nerds with Liberals, jocks with Conservatives, and 'D&D night is cancelled' with 'Project 2025 is shoved down our throats.' Then...vote with your fucking head and not your fucking heart!

Isn't that precisely what the article said?

I get where you're coming from here, but ... let's be clear.

Come January, one of two people will be taking the Oath of Office.

• Kamala Harris.
• Donald Trump.

The article explains why it's best for you to vote for the person you dislike the least (if you can't say 'like the most') out of those two.

None of the other candidates for President have any realistic shot at POTUS.

In fact, many of them are mathematically eliminated from a shot at POTUS by virtue of them not being able to secure 270 EVs because they are not on the ballot in enough states. Most of them can't even get 100EV, let alone 270.

Apart from RFK Jr, Chase Oliver, and Jill Stein, none of them appear as a pickable option in enough states to have a shot at winning 270 EVs and will require Write-In Campaigns.

RFK Jr., Chase Oliver, and Jill Stein COMBINED represent less than 10% (largest vote share I have seen in the past month is Outward Intelligence, which had Kennedy at 3%, West at 1%, Oliver at 1%, and Stein at 1%, taken between 22 and 26 Sept of 1735 Likely Voters, while most other polls show Third Parties between 2% and 5%). Harris is between 45% and 50% in many of these polls, which means...well, Harris has MUCH more of a shot of winning than any of the Third Party candidates, let alone any one of them.

The fix for this is to get your Greens and Socialists and Liberals and Progressives running for local offices, and pushing and pushing hard for RCV. I can't vote for your favourite candidate now because I don't want Republicans in office, but if RCV passes this November, I'll be far more open to it. In fact, I'll take a risk on a Green or Progressive or Libertarian alternative to my Senator or Representative because I can vote that person 1, and make sure the Dem is ranked over the GQPer, so my vote becomes a Dem long before a Republican can win. Then work on getting the EC torn down. And I think you should to. I won't tell you you MUST. But I won't shy away from saying that if you want a progressive future, letting Harris lose now is a stupid way to try (and fail) to achieve that.

It didn't say "have to" as in you are legally obligated to. It says why "it's best to" and explains why 3rd parties act as spoilers in the first past the post system and how voting for a 3rd party can lead to the exact opposite person winning than who you want

Look at how you get downvoted by people that want to kill children. Unit 8200 has entered the chat.

A protest vote to a third party is actually a protest vote to whoever you prefer less. You're essentially just removing yourself as a voter and making it more likely the person you like less is elected... we often say "third party is a vote for Trump" since most of lemmy is sane - but for a staunch conservative a vote for a third party is a vote for Harris.

I'd encourage everyone to vote regardless of your leaning - having low voter turnout allows more shitty shenanigans.

At least it’s the newly elected House that starts its session in January, right?

anakin.jpg

This government really is held together with hopes and dreams, isn’t it?

Wait... you can actually have someone NOT get 270 votes?

Oh... duh... 3rd parties taking some. You think it'd just be whoever has the most electoral college votes then... Alas, needlessly complicating things.

In a world without the electoral college (or in one with a House that actually represents the majority of the country), sure. Vote your conscience. In reality, we live in a two party system where the third will always be a spoiler.

It doesn't matter how many candidates third parties pull from.

If no candidate gets 270 votes, the election is decided by the House. That's at the electoral college level, but see jordan lund's breakdown above and how a majority "not Trump" votes will be split among candidates but Trump still wins the state because the "not Trump" voters couldn't get their shit together and coalesce around a single candidate.

And if the election goes to the House, Assuming Republicans maintain control, take one guess who they're going to elect?