Guest: Why you should vote for an alternative party

I am often surprised when people tell me they haven't heard of the Libertarian Party. It is a newer party, owing its existence to a brave group who broke ranks with the status quo in 1972. But that has been enough time to be familiar to generations of voters. Yet we alternative-party supporters struggle, not just for acceptance, but for recognition. The reason why is just as important as why you should consider voting for Libertarian candidates - or for other alternative-party candidates like the Green Party's Jill Stein - if you're so inclined.

Our Libertarian presidential hopeful is Gary Johnson. He and running mate, Bill Weld, were two-term governors. They bring executive experience to the race for president. Our candidate for Illinois comptroller is Claire Ball. She has a master's degree in accounting. She is the only candidate for comptroller that has accounting experience. Kent McMillen is a paralegal running for U.S. Senate. Yet, none of these candidates were invited to the most visible of events, the debates. Without that exposure, millions of voters will not know them.

Their exclusion and that of other alternative-party candidates is the tip of a legal iceberg that has been put in the way of voter choice. Laws in Illinois and other states favor the parties in power and keep everyone else out.

As mad as I get at the unfairness we have to fight to get on the ballot, I am sad at the thought that we will only see debt and war in my lifetime as a result of Libertarians being excluded from public discussions.

Since the parties in power get to set the dialogue, we are continuously being told that Libertarians rob votes from other candidates, or that we "split the vote" causing someone else's favorite candidate to lose. I know that is a false narrative, perpetuated to keep us out of the public eye. In fact, there are more than two positions on any issue. Without someone who represents me, I would not vote in that race at all.

I was also told by a friend that the two-party system is the basis for American politics, that upsetting that system would spell disaster. My feeling is the opposite. With only two parties, you have the inevitable division in politics that makes things progressively worse. The primary tactic of both parties is to vote party lines, to oppose the other's policies as a power play. They justify that because they say that only their party can save us. The political war never ends.

But if you add more parties, a new skill has to be added. They have to learn to compromise, to negotiate, to create alliances or risk losing to the party that does. More voices means more openness and more cooperation.

We also need to think about what message we are sending to our elected officials. Voting for the same candidates and parties says to them that we like what they are doing. Not voting sends no message at all. If you want to protest the actions of incumbent representatives, you need to have a principled option.

I hear so often that this election, more than any before or to come, is the most important election. The consequences of not having a Democrat or Republican in power spells doom. I have heard this for decades. I heard it when we had a Republican revolution, and again when the Democrats regained the majority. It's amazing that we have survived those momentous occasions. I do think we are worse for the experience.

We have had mounting debt and a state of continuous war, but those horrible situations have spanned both parties being in control. I may not like the way things are going, but one way or another, I think I am going to survive this election, too.

I know we are all busy, and it is too easy to vote for the candidate who can afford more ads or who gets the most coverage on TV. But I hope that you look just a little harder at all of the candidates on the ballot. Send a message that we want better options and more choices.

After all, this is the most important election ever. Until the next one.

Lex Green, a retired electrician, robotics technician and programmer from Bloomington, is chairman of the Libertarian Party of Illinois.