Election 2016: The Power of the Ballot

Updated September 6, 2016: The hyperlink on Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson has been the “Opposition” section.

Updated August 4, 2016: Included a breakdown of the Green nominee, Dr. Jill Stein.

Updated July 26, 2016: Included a breakdown of the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.

The 2016 election season has been nothing short of controversial. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been unable to avoid discussion of her private email usage while in office; Bernie Sanders went from an independent Senator to practically controlling the Democratic Party platform; and Donald Trump went from business mogul and reality television star to the demagogic, populist standard bearer of the Republican Party (much to their chagrin). The end of the primary season has produced two of the most historically disliked candidates in modern history. But what if I told you there were a lot of people to vote for over the last year?

For example, Gary Johnson and Jill Stein are the front-runners of the Libertarian and Green parties respectively. Johnson officially won the nomination in May while Stein is the presumptive nominee until the convention in August. They represent two of the major “third” parties in the United States, bringing the sum total to four out of at least 28.

Throughout the summer, Rising Young MindS will be breaking down the presidential and vice-presidential nominees from the “Big Four”. Since many will be seeing more than two names on the ballot in November, should we not at least be a little familiar with the other nominees? With this in mind, we are breaking down the details and collecting them here:

· Libertarian Party National Convention — May 26–30, 2016

· Republican National Convention — July 18–21, 2016

· Democratic National Convention — July 25–28, 2016

· Green Party National Convention — August 4–7, 2016

The above list will be updated as time goes on with links to our primers on the nominees. While we hope to help you make an informed decision in November, the vote is still yours to make. Vote your conscience, but please vote! Note: we did not include any parties with representation in fewer than 20 states, disqualifying even the Constitution Party.

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