We spoke to students who pushed for write-ins and third parties

Throughout this election, many Millennials have spoken out about their public distaste with Clinton and Trump. A great deal of college students identified with Sanders when he ran in the primaries. When he lost, some chose to go the third party route and seek out other candidates to match their political ideals.

Many people consider write-in and third party candidates to be a wasted vote, though. In light of our distasteful election results (“Grab them by the pussy?” Really?), it’s worth considering the truth in such opinions. Could these write-in and third party votes have helped prevent a Trump presidency, had they been cast for Hillary instead? Or were they the perfect protest votes, in light of how close and important this election was? We reached out to students to ask why they wouldn’t vote for Trump or Hillary. They also spoke about why they chose to go for a write-in or third party candidate instead.

For Jacob A., it’s a matter of “vot[ing] on principle, not out of some misguided thought that my voice matters.” Jacob, a junior majoring in Energy Business and Finance, said we should vote for the winning team no matter who wins and believes he voted for the winning team based on the libertarian party’s principles.

“I don’t need mob mentality to justify my choice.”

photo by Gage Skidmore

Bernie enthusiast and Penn State junior majoring in Political Science and Economics, Ethan Paul said that he was trying to send a message by writing in Bernie for this election.

“I want to give a message that next time around this isn’t acceptable. I think that because this is a swing state this message will be heard even more.”

Despite Bernie’s support for Hillary, he believes writing him in on this ballot will send a stronger message. “Even though Trump is a danger, I’m still not willing to violate my principles of what a true president should be.”

Andrew Chiang, a recent graduate of Penn State who majored in Civil Engineering, voted for Jill Stein, saying that “Bernie supporters fell too deep with the misconception that third party candidates could not win.”

“I voted for the Green Party candidates because they do not have a ‘private and public position,’ just like the corrupt duopoly politicians that run the majority of America,” he said.

He said that if we would’ve paid more attention to third party candidates they might have a better chance at getting poll recognition.

In a different political system, perhaps one that doesn’t use first-past-the-post voting or perhaps one that doesn’t force its electorate to essentially choose between only two candidates, perhaps votes for these underdogs could have meant something. Perhaps voting your conscience wouldn’t be viewed as “throwing your vote away.” Perhaps their votes would not be part of the reason we now face a presidency won through a campaign fueled by fear, hate, misogyny and racism.

This election was perhaps the best and worst time to cast such votes. The worst, because their votes contributed to a Trump presidency, but the best, because their votes ring loud and clear as a stand against a system that simply doesn’t work.