The Deserted Third Party
By Karsen Buschjost, Sara Hattis, Andy Krauss and Kinza Khan
Third party candidates for the 2016 Presidential Election race in Arizona are being overlooked by Maricopa County voters, according to a poll conducted by 502 Murrow at the Manzanita precinct in Phoenix.
After surveying 16 voters at this polling location at Christ the Redeemer Lutheran Church, responses showed not a single voter had cast their ballot for a third party candidate running for the United States’ highest office.
The results of the poll recorded responses from eight registered democrats, four registered republicans, and four registered independents. Each respondent registered with a specific party voted corresponding to their party affiliation, as all eight democrats cast their vote for Hillary Clinton while all four of the republicans voted for Donald Trump. All four independent voters, however, leaned blue, voicing their support for Clinton.
In an election cycle that has been defined by an unprecedented level of scandal surrounding both major party candidates, the public has expressed heightened support for third party candidates in the months leading up to Election Day. This is a result of the public distaste that has been so well-documented for each candidate’s nonstop political blunders. From Clinton’s email scandal to Trump’s racist and sexist outbursts, many voters consider Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein to be better fit to hold the office for President.
Most voters felt that the issues surrounding each of the major party candidates were too significant to cast their ballot for a third party candidate. Many of the voters polled at the Manzanita precinct also seemed like that primary reason they voted for their candidate of choice was to prevent the other from holding office.
Judith Quince is a registered democrat but made it clear the reason she voted for Hillary Clinton was because she was more against Donald Trump than anything else. “I do not think he is a good representative for our country, and I want Obama’s legacy to continue,” Quince said. |
Shanika Toms cast her vote for Clinton as well. She is a registered independent that was also averse to many of the controversies tied to Trump since he declared his candidacy last June.
“All the propaganda surrounding Trump and the things he was saying were just too much,” said Toms. “The violence and the covert racist remarks he was making, it’s hard to support that.”
Toms said she did think very hard about voting for a third party candidate, but the issues surrounding both major party presidential campaigns were just too significant to keep her from voting for Clinton.
“I just think it’s better to support Hillary because it would be a good fresh move for America to a woman up there representing us,” Toms said.
Some voters were too closely tied to the issues highlighted by this election cycle to commit their vote to a third party candidate. Adrian Gomez, a Hispanic registered independent, came to the United States illegally and spent over $65,000 in lawyer fees to earn American citizenship. “I became a US citizen eight years ago, and I worked all my life to earn that right,” said Gomez. “I better vote and see if I could cause a small change.” Gomez described his view on this election as a vote for the “lesser of two evils,” and his dislike for Trump is what drove him to vote for Clinton. “With Trump, it’s not even a racist thing to me,” said Gomez. “He always just talks, talks, talks. It’s great, great, great. We’re going to make this better. But there’s no solutions to it. There’s no reason into what he says.” |
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