Vote for Whoever You Want

Have you ever felt (or been told) that you’re wasting your vote by voting for a candidate or party that has no chance of winning the election? In the US, the shrillness of such accusations has gone up a notch, as pointed out by Alan Jacobs:
“I keep hearing from Trump supporters that if I vote for a third-party or write-in candidate — for convenience’ sake let’s say Evan McMullin, though I may not  choose him — in this election I’m “really” or “effectively” voting for Hillary Clinton. When I ask how that works exactly, I am told that it’s because Hillary is leading and therefore my McMullin vote isn’t allowing Trump to catch up.”

Wait a minute, argues Jacobs. The winner in the US isn’t the guy who won the most votes (same as India and UK), and so voting for the 3rd party candidate means different things in different states:
“The argument must be that if you vote for McMullin in a state where Hillary is ahead, you’re voting for Hillary, but if you do it in a state where Trump is leading you’re voting for Trump.”

What about a state that is too close to call? Jacobs again:
“If you do it (vote for the 3rd guy) in a swing state I guess you won’t know until after the election who you voted for.”

Therefore, concludes Jacobs, the whole “effectively voting for X” argument is “nonsense on stilts”. I am very amused by the rational way in which Jacobs poked holes in the accusation.

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