I received my ballot a week ago and I couldn’t bring myself to fill it out yet. I’m scared of another Trump presidency if that is what happens, but I can’t keep supporting Democrats that have become what they claim to hate. I know if I vote for her that I’m sending a message that they can keep using the same playbook to move closer to fascism and corporatocracy.
They use their influence & power to eliminate opposition, and their donor money to astroturf social media. They censor other voices online, and spread lies about other people (Jill Stein) without evidence. They gaslight and claim you’re fascist for telling the truth and blame others for their mistakes. They’ll use your money to pay for genocide while turning a blind eye to help themselves, but make a thousand excused why they can’t help you.
They don’t deserve to win. Trump will be bad and I’m scared about what will happen if he wins, but you and I are not to blame. All they had to do was be truthful, transparent, empathetic and genuine—but their lust for power got in the way.
How would third party voters already voting for someone else help Trump, unless they otherwise would vote for Kamala? What makes you think they’d vote for Kamala?
I think you just look at what the two candidates are offering and then look at the overlap between each of them and whatever third party you are considering voting for.
Using logic, the candidate that most closely matches your preferences is the one that is losing your vote, and since 3rd parties can’t win in a first past the post system, you have worked against your own best interests by giving your vote to the third party instead of the one of the 2 that matches your interests most closely, which gives the candidate that least aligns with your values an advantage of 1 vote not cast for their opponent.
It’s math. people who vote 3rd party aren’t just throwing their vote away, they are specifically hurting the major candidate that most matches their viewpoints.
In this case we can guess based on context who OP would vote for if only given 2 choices. And let me be clear: they are only getting two choices. They can choose the major candidate who aligns with their beliefs most closely, or they can waste their ballot, giving the other party the advantage.