Four years later and they are back at it — Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein are running for president, again, and they are making more progress than before.

Johnson got nearly 1 percent of the popular vote in the 2012 general presidential elections, according to data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). He came in third place in Montana with 3.5 percent; the highest percentage he got from any state. A 2016 CBS News/ The New York Times (NYT) poll from last week has Johnson at 8 percent nationally. An Emerson College poll has him at 9 percent nationally and at 13 percent in Colorado, where he finished with less than 1.5 percent four years ago.

Stein is getting more support this election cycle as well. The CBS News/ NYT poll shows her at 3 percent nationally and the Emerson College poll at 2. In 2012 she finished with less than 0.4 percent of the vote, according to the FEC.

Johnson and Stein may be long-shot third party candidates, and their single digit poll numbers may easily be glanced over, but that does not mean their growing support is not significant. Their campaigns are noteworthy for the 2016 general election for two reasons: they are leeching support from the Republicans and Democrats, which may be impactful in a neck-and-neck race; the rising poll numbers illustrate that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of voting Americans are rejecting the status quo.

Many polls posted on Real Clear Politics’ website, including the ones mentioned previously, show Republican nominee Donald Trump surpassing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by a mere 2 points. While the polls vary, the majority show Trump ahead by up to 13 points in the last week. But the polls that include Johnson and Stein sink Clinton and Trump’s averages to the low 40 percent. If these averages hold steady until Election Day, the U.S. will have a president that was elected by less than 45 percent of the population, regardless if Trump or Clinton wins.

Every point the Libertarian Party and Green Party take from Trump and Clinton is one less point they can use to get ahead in their already close race. If Americans are opting out of the two-party system, where are the votes going, and which party is losing out?

The Libertarian Party most closely resembles the ideology of the Republican Party with its small, conservative government model, and the Green Party is similar to the Democratic Party with its uber-progressive views on healthcare, education and the environment. Based on the poll numbers, it is possible the Libertarian Party is sapping more votes from the Republican Party than the Green Party is from the Democratic Party. Yet, Trump is still ahead. This means that if the backers of these third parties decide to jump ship on Election Day and vote for Clinton or Trump, it is likely Trump will receive more votes than Clinton.

But there is still one question left, why are Americans choosing a third party at all?

One possible reason the Libertarian Party and Green Party are receiving increased support is because Americans decided Trump and Clinton do not have their best interests at heart.

While that is a rather obvious likelihood, the significance is that so many Americans are choosing to cast their vote for someone who has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning — but they will vote for him or her anyway.

Election Day is still weeks away, and the polls have more than enough time to rollercoaster up and down. These early results just tell Americans what they already, and painfully, know too well — Election 2016 will not bring the country together; it will only tear it apart.

Share