Hello Controlled Opposition,
I voted for Jill Stein because I read the Green Party platform and agreed with most of it.
I am bemused when people try to tell me that voting my conscience is wrong.
If anyone wants to tell me I am responsible for Trump, I will laugh audibly. People told me the same thing when in 2012, my refusal to vote for President Obama was significant they were flat out wrong. My write-in vote didn't matter at all.
You did exactly what you are free to do; and should be commended for expressing your vision for the nation in the most patriotic way possible - by voting. It is your choice who you vote for.
You are not 'too blame' for anything.
I have done exactly the same thing. I did not trust Al Gore so I vote my conscience and that meant a vote for Ralph Nader and the Green Party. I stood up for what I believed in.
I have since decided that if I could have a take-over, I would have voted for Gore. I became more aware; and have since realized that since I am in a swing State, my vote carries more power. The damage done to the middle class by W for two terms gave me plenty of time to think about what I did.
Voting my conscience this time would have meant a vote for Jill Stein.
I was determined not to repeat my previous mistake, so in 2016 I held my nose and voted to prevent Trump.
The 2016 election was a particularly disgusting choice to make, so I have become a proponent of IRV, Instant Runoff Voting. (also called ranked choice voting)
That is a system where instead of picking just one choice, you prioritize the ballot. Put a (1) by your first choice, 'your conscience vote,' a (2) by who you would like to get it if your first doesn't, a (3) by whomever you would like to see get it if the others don't, and on and on, as many choices as you care to make.
When the ballots are tallied, the first choice of each ballot is used for the first count. All but two candidates are eliminated.
The next tally uses the second choice for any ballots whose first choice has been eliminated. That way there will never be a split vote spoiler.
"IRV has the effect of avoiding split votes when multiple candidates earn support from like-minded voters. As a simple example, suppose there are two candidates with similar views, A and B, and a third with different views, C; with first-preference totals of 35% for candidate A, 25% for B and 40% for C. In a plurality voting election, candidate C may win with 40% of the votes, even though 60% of electors prefer both A and B over C. Alternatively, voters are pressured to choose the seemingly stronger candidate of either A or B, despite personal preference for the other, in order to help ensure the defeat of C. With IRV, the electors backing B as their first choice can rank A second, which means candidate A will win by 60% to 40% over C despite the split vote in first choices."
Instant Runoff Voting
