cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21819748
Mona Mawari
Thu 24 Oct 2024 10.46 EDT[Please read the entire article - it is very thoughtful and informative. With her record on Gaza and Lebanon, voting for Harris will be difficult for millions in the US. --PL]
This could be a good opportunity to explore 3rd party and independent candidates that could really use your vote. There are some small benefits to voting 3rd party or independent over staying at home. Helping get a party to 5% popular vote gets them some public campaign funding in their next general election. It also shows the two Major parties that you are willing to vote, but you don't like their platform. -That's worth something. Lastly, politicians in the major parties like to co-opt policy ideas that originated in smaller parties. Did you know that AOC's previously proposed Green New Deal idea did not originate in the Democrat party?
I wanted to vote third party but I read that the Democratic Party got third parties banned from the ballot. I guess if there’s a write-in option I still might.
In some states the major parties got certain candidates banned. Here in indiana the Green party is banned even as a write-in (try to make that make sense) but Cornel West as an independent is accepted and so is PSL candidate Claudia De la Cruz. In Georgia Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz are banned while the Green Party's Jill Stein is allowed. It's worth checking out each candidates website to see which states they have "ballot access"...
[addendum] I feel like i'm committing an injustice if I don't mention the Libertarian party which also has ballot access in every state, though I adamantly disagree with them.