Third party (U.S. politics)

Third party, or minor party, is a term used in the United States' two-party system for political parties other than the Republican and Democratic parties.

Third parties are most often encountered in presidential nominations. Third party vote splitting exceeded a president's margin of victory in three elections: 1844, 2000, and 2016. No third-party candidate has won the presidency since the Republican Party became the second major party in 1856. Since then a third-party candidate won states in five elections: 1892, 1912, 1924, 1948, and 1968. 1992 was the last time a third-party candidate won over 5% of the vote and placed second in any state.^[1]

Competitiveness

With few exceptions,^[2] the U.S. system has two major parties which have won, on average, 98% of all state and federal seats.^[3] There have only been a few rare elections where a minor party was competitive with the major parties, occasionally replacing one of the major parties in the 19th century.^[4]^[5] The winner take all system for presidential elections and the single-seat plurality voting system for Congressional elections have over time helped establish the two-party system (see Duverger's law). Although third-party candidates rarely win elections, they can have an effect on them through vote splitting and other impacts.

Notable exceptions

Greens, Libertarians, and others have elected state legislators and local officials. The Socialist Party elected hundreds of local officials in 169 cities in 33 states by 1912, including Milwaukee, Wisconsin; New Haven, Connecticut; Reading, Pennsylvania; and Schenectady, New York.^[6] There have been governors elected as independents, and from such parties as Progressive, Reform, Farmer-Labor, Populist, and Prohibition. After losing a Republican primary in 2010, Bill Walker of Alaska won a single term in 2014 as an independent by joining forces with the democratic nominee. In 1998, wrestler Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota on the Reform Party ticket.^[7]

Sometimes a national officeholder that is not a member of any party is elected. Previously, Senator Lisa Murkowski won re-election in 2010 as a write-in candidate after losing the Republican primary to a Tea party candidate, and Senator Joe Lieberman ran and won reelection to the Senate as an "Independent Democrat" in 2006 after losing the Democratic primary.^[8]^[9] As of 2023, there are only three U.S. senators, Angus King, Bernie Sanders and Kyrsten Sinema, who identify as Independent and all caucus with the Democrats.^[10] Sinema may have left the Democratic Party in 2022 because she thought she could not win a democratic primary race in 2024.^[11]

The last time a third-party candidate carried any states in a presidential race was George Wallace in 1968, while the last third-party candidate to finish runner-up or greater was former president Teddy Roosevelt's 2nd-place finish on the Bull Moose Party ticket in 1912.^[1] The only three U.S. presidents without a major party affiliation upon election were George Washington, John Tyler, and Andrew Johnson, and only Washington served his entire tenure as an independent. Neither of the other two were ever elected president in their own right, both being vice presidents who ascended to office upon the death of the president, and both became independents because they were unpopular with their parties. John Tyler was elected on the Whig ticket in 1840 with William Henry Harrison, but was expelled by his own party. Johnson was the running mate for Abraham Lincoln, who was reelected on the National Union ticket in 1864; it was a temporary name for the Republican Party.

Favorable systems for third parties

Electoral fusion

Electoral fusion in the United States is an arrangement where two or more U.S. political parties on a ballot list the same candidate,^[12] allowing that candidate to receive votes on multiple party lines in the same election.^[13]

Electoral fusion is also known as fusion voting, cross endorsement, multiple party nomination, multi-party nomination, plural nomination, and ballot freedom.^[14]^[15]

Electoral fusion was once widespread in the United States; however, as of 2024, it remains legal and common only in New York and Connecticut. It was once legal in every state and credited by advocates as being instrumental in enabling major democratic advances.^[16]

Ranked-choice voting

Ranked-choice voting (RCV) can refer to one of several ranked voting methods used in some cities and states in the United States. The term is not strictly defined, but most often refers to instant-runoff voting (IRV) or single transferable vote (STV).

RCV is used for state primary, congressional, and presidential elections in Maine; and for state, congressional, and presidential general elections in Alaska. It is used for local elections in 47 US cities including Salt Lake City and Seattle.^[18] It is also used by the Virginia, Utah, and Indiana Republican parties in state conventions and primaries.^[19]^[20]^[21] As a contingency in the case of a runoff election, RCV ballots are used by overseas voters in six states.^[18]

RCV is used in American non-governmental elections as well. Examples include student elections at approximately 95 colleges and universities, along with elections for officers in professional associations, such as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars), American Chemical Society, American Philosophical Association, and Society of Actuaries.^[18]

Between 1912 and 1930 limited forms of RCV, typically with only two rankings, were implemented but later repealed,^[22] as has also occurred in some cities in the 21st century.^[23]^[24]^[25] Cambridge, MA started using Ranked-choice voting in 1941 for its city council elections. The Bay Area and Minnesota have a relatively large number of cities using the system.^[26]

Ranked-choice voting has been seen by supporters as a much-needed boost to America's democracy as a way to remove toxicity and expand choice, while some conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation have claimed that it would benefit left-leaning candidates, though no evidence yet supports that claim. Others caution against overhyping Ranked-choice voting and to not forget about voter turnout and other aspects of democratic health.^[26] Research has demonstrated that RCV can disenfranchise poor, minority, and uneducated voters through improper ballot use.^[27] Because 94% of first-round RCV winners ultimately win the election, ignoring races with only one or two candidates, disenfranchisment may not allways be offset by greater fidelity to the popular opinion.^[28]

Approval voting

Approval voting is a single-winner electoral system in which voters can select any number of candidates instead of selecting only one.

Approval voting ballots show a list of all the candidates running and each voter indicates support for as many candidates as they see fit. Final tallies show how many votes each candidate received, and the winner is the candidate with the most support.

Proportional representation

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]