My top 3 criteria for picking who I vote for this year will be:

1) Is not Biden
2) Is not Trump
3) Of whoever is left, the most honest, compassionate, and least racist/sexist choice.

@LouisIngenthron

I would say the same about voting for a major party. In not a single election would your vote have changed the outcome, ever. So why do it?

Moreover, if we just look at the significance of your vote, you are a larger percentage of the vote when voting for a third party than when voting for a primary party. Something on the order of 50x **more** impactful when voting for a third party than a primary party in percentage of the vote you account for.

Moreover while not winning or winning for a primary has little effect from your vote, with a third party even loosing has a positive outcome. By swinging the % higher (which you do wtih 50x more effect) you are sending a message even when you loose by raising the % enabling third-party more likely access, exposure, and chance to win in the future.

@freemo The significance of a vote for a candidate that cannot win is zero.

So, a vote for one of the main parties is, by definition, more significant, even if it's literally one in a hundred million.

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@LouisIngenthron @freemo So my relatives who live in states where polls say Biden has no better chance of winning than a third party candidate should vote for Trump because "The significance of a vote for a candidate that cannot win is zero"?

@antares No, of course not, but they also don't necessarily need to leave the house to vote for Biden if he doesn't stand a chance there anyway.

@LouisIngenthron then I claim that anyone not living in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia or Nevada has an obligation to vote their preference as their vote will have zero effect on the outcome of the election. It is only the people in those swing states where more than one candidate has any real chance of winning where voters even need to consider voting strategically.

@antares Yeah, that's a solid point. I'm not sure I could go that route, but I certainly couldn't fault anyone else for choosing to do so.

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