I’m Proud of Voting Green Party in 2020
For the last two weeks, I’ve had to explain to friends, family, and strangers on social media why I voted Green Party on the Presidential ballot, instead of voting for Joe Biden (or Trump for that matter). For the sake of no longer explaining it and instead citing this article in future discussions, here are my reasons why I am proud of saying I voted Green Party for President.
My vote doesn’t matter
Don’t give me the “your vote matters” crap. Yes, I agree, it matters at the local, county, and state levels. Those elections are based on the popular vote. For example, in the 2018 midterms, Beto O’Rourke lost to Republican incumbent Ted Cruz by 214,921 votes. 8.3 million people voted, and Cruz defeated O’Rourke by less than 2% of the total vote.
The third party candidate, Neal Dikeman, only garnered 65,470 votes. Even if O’Rourke gathered the third party votes, he still would have lost against Ted Cruz.
Had 214,921 more people showed up to vote and voted Democrat, O’Rourke could’ve changed the outcome for Texas voters in Congress, especially during these trying times.
On the Presidential election, our votes don’t matter, since the election is not based on the popular vote; it is based on the electoral college vote.
To this, I cite the 2016 election. Even when Hillary Clinton gathered 66 million votes, she still lost to now-President Trump, who only garnered 63 million votes. Trump won because he gathered 307 electoral college votes to Clinton’s 232 electoral votes.
On the local level, a quick Google search will tell you how consequential your vote is on the electoral college.
Take for example Travis county in Texas, or rather, Austin and its immediate surroundings. In this county, Trump only won 27% or 127,000 votes of the total number of voters. Clinton won 65.7% or 308,000 votes. In terms of third parties, the Libertarians won 4.7% or 22,000 votes and the Green Party won 1.6% or 7,400 votes.
If I lived in Austin and cast my ballot for a third party candidate, my vote is inconsequential. The electoral college still voted for…
