“Boy, I’d Sure Like to Vote Third-Party This Year.”

Written by Ecce Verum

It’s election season, and that usually means that three kinds of people start getting really loud right about now.

First, the candidates themselves start campaigning harder than ever. Second, those who are especially civics-minded begin to non-partisanly clamor at everyone else to “Do your patriotic duty and vote!” And third? We all have that one Uncle Bob (or equivalent figure in your life) who just can’t stand either of the two main parties and is proudly and purely casting his ballot for some third-party candidate you never heard of before.

Perhaps you’re just as disgruntled with the current state of politics, and Uncle Bob is criticizing you for not doing likewise.

If you are unsettled about voting for a major party candidate who is obviously not an ideal choice, you’re not alone. It has been an especially poignant question in recent election seasons. Ultimately, you never should violate your conscience in your voting choices, but I do think it’s possible to have a genuine discussion about the kinds of things your conscience should and should not be worried about.

So, in that spirit, let’s address this issue.

I recently came across an article from Douglas Wilson, entitled “Why Your Vote is No Sacrament,” that shows why it doesn’t need to be a stain on your conscience to vote for a candidate whom you have legitimate concerns about. It’s an enjoyable read and worth thinking about if you’ve been wrestling with this topic. So take a break from my article for a little bit and go ahead and read or listen to his.

We’re back? Great.

Now let me attempt to fit his argument snugly into the context of American political history. To put this question into perspective, realize that in 2023, the abortion pill extinguished 642,700 preborn American lives.

For some perspective, that’s more babies in one year than all American soldiers who died in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined. Accordingly, my heart hit the floor last June when Donald Trump publicly declared that he would not block the abortion pill. In that moment, I realized that Trump is not pro-life.

Nonetheless, I still plan to vote for him this November, because his opponent has an agenda to bring back Roe v. Wade. Effectively, that means making all abortion legal in every state, with only slim regulations allowable.

As I see it, the only thing worse than keeping some abortions legal is keeping all abortions legal. And the only one who will defeat a Democrat is a Republican. I believe we are called to be as radical as the truth God gave us, but also as practical as the world He put us in.

Because of that, I think it’s a wiser move for a Christian to vote for the most God-honoring option from within the two-party system we have than to vote for a third-party candidate.

Here’s the blunt reality: Third-party candidates rarely, if ever, get elected.

Presidential elections run on a winner-takes-all-system, which means that if your top pick isn’t the same as a ton of other people in your state, your vote will not matter. This helps explain why no third-party candidate has ever won a presidential election since the two-party system was cemented after the Civil War.

As a matter of fact, no third-party candidate has even won a single electoral vote in the last 56 years. And since the Civil War, only a handful of third-party Congressmen have ever made it to the Capitol. In order to reform politics, you must reform policy. And if you can’t get elected, you’re going to have a really hard time with that.

But not only are third-party candidates practically guaranteed to lose, but they also siphon votes away from the mainstream position that they would most closely agree with!

Politics is a game of tug-of-war, and third parties are pulling at a 45º angle. The only thing they’re guaranteed to do is suck manpower from and ultimately destabilize the side they are closest to. Now apply that to today’s world. Failure to line up behind the most realistic chance of success because of ideological differences means more sexual perversion and more dead babies.

That’s not a price I’m willing to pay.

I have a question for those who say we should vote for third-party candidates because they’re “closer to the ideal.”

If you’re wanting proximity to the ideal, why not just vote for a complete write-in candidate who’s your absolute favorite? Or maybe, if you think you’d be a decent politician, why not just vote for yourself?

You, after all, are the closest to your own viewpoint about how the nation should be run. You see, people who vote for third-party candidates are already voting “from the available options,” and they already recognize that there are limitations on the ideal. I’d humbly suggest that they add just one more limitation on the ideal: How about a realistic chance of getting elected?

(Now, if our political landscape were different, I would indeed be singing a different tune. If we had a legitimate multi-party system like those that exist in much of the world—i.e., there were third parties that actually are large enough to have a realistic chance of getting elected—I’d definitely consider voting for them.

But the last century and a half of American political history teaches us that third parties have a dismal chance of success here at home. Something monumental in the political landscape would have to happen in order to convince me to turn my vote in their direction.

In other words, I’d have to see a third party as an optimistic—even if only future—contender against the major parties, not just as an escape outlet that allows me to vote for something other than the two major ones. I just don’t see that right now.)

Ultimately, there is a time for both statements and actions, and we must remember the proper place of each. So, even if you’re considering voting third-party just to make a statement, realize that November 5th is action day, not statement day.

Voting third-party to make a statement against the status quo is basically the conservative version of virtue signaling. Like a Covid mask. It doesn’t accomplish a thing, but at least I’m “making a statement,” right?

Many conservatives are admirably focused on political ideals—but we must always guard against the paralysis of idealism. Only when we bring principles down to earth do they actually change the earth.

Politics is warfare, and wars are won by fighting alongside multitudes of other men and taking actions that will actually yield results.

Third parties give you neither.

Ecce Verum is passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how God’s redemptive work relates to every aspect of life. His earnest desire is to steward well the resources and abilities that God has given him, in whatever situation God may have him. Currently, Ecce is pursuing a B.A. in classical liberal arts at New Saint Andrews College, with the intention to enter law school after graduation and fight for the truth in the legal and political fields. However, he does enjoy aptly written words regardless of the topic, and has contributed to blogs on apologetics and debate in addition to writing on academic literary research. A former national semi-finalist and finalist in speech and debate, he now coaches students in value debate and competitive speaking.