A Brief History of Vote Swapping

Oct 30

By Amos

Vote Swapping in the US

In the past, vote swapping has also been referred to as vote trading, vote pairing, co-voting, strategic voting, and tactical voting.

2000 Presidential Election

The modern era of vote swapping in the U.S. began with the 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Leading up to the election, concerns mounted over well-liked third-party candidate Ralph Nader splitting the left-leaning vote, which put swing-state voters in a bind: how could they vote their conscience without throwing the election to Bush? Jamie Raskin (D-MD), then a constitutional law professor, posted an article in Slate suggesting vote pairing could be facilitated by websites. Several independent internet platforms, of which NaderTrader was the largest, popped up within days.

1,412 would-be Nader voters in decisive Florida were convinced to vote for Al Gore instead, in exchange for a voter in a safe-Democrat state casting a protest vote for Nader.

If the swappers had made more such matches, we might be living in a very different reality today. Gore lost the state and the election by just 537 votes. And the pro-Gore swappers would likely have helped win the state. Bush won the election, costing us a decade of Gore-led progress against the climate emergency, and giving us instead the nightmare that was the Iraq War.

👉 SIGN UP to swap here!

Since then, Vote Swapping has evolved slowly.

2004-2012 Presidential Elections

Vote swapping saw minimal activity during the 2004, 2008, and 2012 presidential elections, largely due to the absence of prominent third-party candidates and the clear two-party focus of these races. The historic nature of Obama's candidacy in 2008 and relatively straightforward choices between major party candidates in all three elections meant voters generally aligned directly with their preferred party rather than engaging in tactical voting strategies.

2016 Presidential Election

Vote swapping resurged during the contentious 2016 election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. With Gary Johnson and Jill Stein drawing enough third-party support to potentially affect the outcome in swing states, several vote-swapping sites emerged, and it was covered extensively in the mainstream media. The largest, TrumpTraders, facilitated more than 15,000 vote swaps, including over 4,500 in Florida alone.

2020 Presidential Election

In 2020, between incumbent President Trump and Joe Biden, vote swapping played a smaller role compared to 2016. The election’s intense focus and the polarized political climate led most voters to focus on directly supporting their preferred candidate. Although third-party candidates were on the ballot, their impact was comparatively limited, reducing the need for strategic vote pairing.

👉 SWAP!

Early and International Examples

Before 2000, there was no organized, systematized version of vote swapping as we recognize it today. However, a loosely related practice called “tactical voting” has long existed informally in the UK and elsewhere. Tactical voting often happened on a smaller scale and was generally limited to individuals making independent decisions or organizing locally without formal or digital platforms to facilitate coordinated swaps.

Historically in the UK, tactical voting saw some organized efforts by grassroots campaigns or political advocacy groups, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. These efforts aimed to persuade voters to cast ballots strategically, often in parliamentary seats where their preferred candidates had little chance of winning, to prevent an opposition party from gaining power. For instance, anti-Conservative voters sometimes promoted the idea of voting for Labour or the Liberal Democrats, depending on which candidate had the best chance of unseating a Conservative MP.

The lack of digital platforms or widespread, structured networks meant that these efforts were primarily local and usually involved in-person campaigning or printed materials rather than any formalized system for vote swapping. It wasn’t until the internet became a popular organizing tool that coordinated vote swapping became possible on a larger scale as seen in the U.S. 2000 presidential election and later in Canada and the UK during the Brexit referendum and subsequent elections.

And, yes, vote swapping is legal. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has defended websites’ free speech protections, and in 2007, In 2007, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the sites’ right to operate under the First Amendment in Porter v. Bowen. For more read this analysis in Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal. Vote swapping remains legal in all states.

Click to swap here!