My Reluctant Vote Swap Journey
By Jeremy Varon
Thank heavens I found swapyourvote.org. A reluctant Harris voter in safely Blue New York State, I swapped my vote with a reluctant Green Party voter in a swingy Sun Belt state. She will vote, on my behalf, for Harris, in hopes of defeating Trump — a goal we share.
I will vote, on her behalf, for the Green Party candidate, so as to boost the credibility of third parties in the U.S politics. We share that goal too.I filled out a simple google form and swapyourvote quickly found me a swap partner. She and I had a brief email exchange in which we described our politics and shared our enthusiasm for this arrangement. It also helped to verify that she was not some stealth Trump supporter, abusing an agreement based on a mutual promise. It was a rousing civic moment among strangers that cut through the alienation and anxiety so many of us feel.
Every four years, American leftists, progressives, and others face a horrible dilemma: stick with the Democrat and endorse policies you may find lacking (think climate justice) or even reprehensible (like unconditional support for Israel); or vote third party and risk having the clearly greater evil prevail. Dear god, Trump.
I resolved this dilemma, years ago, for myself. In 2000 I voted for Ralph Nader, the Green Party presidential nominee. Nader votes in swing states — no matter how principled — almost certainly helped elect George W. Bush. Calamity followed. Had the Democrat Al Gore been president, there likely would have been no Iraq War, no Guantanamo, maybe even no 9/11. The price to this country, in blood and treasure, was immense. The cost to the countries and peoples the United States attacked was vastly greater. Direct deaths from the U.S. “war on terror” approach 1 million.
I came to believe this: that as Americans we simply owe it to the peoples of the world to choose the better — or least worst — of our options for president. Their lives are at stake, often more so than ours.I have also tried to move past a “lesser of two evils” frame. I now see my vote as a strategic choice. Which candidate, whatever their flaws, best maximizes the chances that my values are reflected in national policies? This election brings a new, still more vital question: which candidate will preserve basic democratic structures so that the very struggle over values and policies can continue.
These are my views, my choices. I understand that others view things differently. They may see the lesser of evils as, still, unacceptable evil. They may wish to punish the Democrats for, in their view, complicity in genocide against Gazans. They may cling the simple idea that in a democracy you should be able to vote for the candidate who best represents you. All valid. But each of those voters also knows that any loss of Harris votes may help Trump win, which no one wants. Vote swapping is no perfect answer to electoral agony. Each swapper may feel compromised. Helping Harris to win, by this arrangement, does not send as powerful a signal to the Democrats that backing genocide is unacceptable. Helping the Greens may encourage future “spoiler” candidacies. But that’s ok. We live in an imperfect world, with imperfect choices. Our task is to come together, honest in our fears and hopes, our demoralization and our power, and make smart choices. For our sake, and for the sake of others. Swapyourvote.org helps us do just that.
BTW - that's me and my wife on election night 2008, just after victory was announced for Obama!.
