--- title: The Real Reason You Can't Vote for an Independent Candidate description: Lawrence Lessig and Randy E. Barnett offer a solution to a broken electoral process canonical: https://time.com/4436805/lawrence-lessig-randy-barnett/ author: Randy E. Barnett article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-03T20:52:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:49.533Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Real Reason You Can't Vote for an Independent Candidate og:description: Lawrence Lessig and Randy E. Barnett have a solution to fix electoral process og:url: https://time.com/4436805/lawrence-lessig-randy-barnett/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4ffa99d01fe8e98/6988a0f4e20a87c6b8a91e8e/third-party-candidate-independent-clinton-trump-stein-johnson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5675 og:image:height: 3192 og:image:alt: Green Party Candidate Jill Stein og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Real Reason You Can't Vote for an Independent Candidate twitter:description: Lawrence Lessig and Randy E. Barnett have a solution to fix electoral process twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4ffa99d01fe8e98/6988a0f4e20a87c6b8a91e8e/third-party-candidate-independent-clinton-trump-stein-johnson.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Real Reason You Can't Vote for an Independent Candidate > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Can Jill Stein Win Over Bernie Supporters? [Watch (HLS stream): Can Jill Stein Win Over Bernie Supporters?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hJ0lQWk0.m3u8) (3:03)  _Published 2016-07-26. The Green Party candidate, who is running for office for the second time, is hoping to appeal to alienated Bernie supporters this year._ by [Randy E. Barnett](https://time.com/author/randy-e-barnett-and-lawrence-lessig/) and [Lawrence Lessig](https://time.com/author/lawrence-lessig/) Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Aug 3, 2016 8:52 PM UTC  Jill Stein announcing she will seek the Green Party's presidential nomination on June 23, 2015\. She is now the party's selection. Jill Stein announcing she will seek the Green Party's presidential nomination on June 23, 2015\. She is now the party's selection. Drew Angerer—Getty Images by [Randy E. Barnett](https://time.com/author/randy-e-barnett-and-lawrence-lessig/) and [Lawrence Lessig](https://time.com/author/lawrence-lessig/) Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Aug 3, 2016 8:52 PM UTC Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are [disliked by more voters](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-distaste-for-both-trump-and-clinton-is-record-breaking/) than any major-party nominees in at least three decades. [Independents easily outnumber](http://www.pewresearch.org/data-trend/political-attitudes/party-identification/) either Democrats or Republicans. And polls show voters overwhelmingly [want another choice](http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-trailguide-updates-one-thing-polls-agree-on-voters-don-t-1468775413-htmlstory.html). There is no shortage of great leaders in the United States with integrity, strength and vision, but there is something standing in their way: A morass of state laws meant to keep particular Americans from threatening the two existing major parties. Fundamentally, these laws prevent rivals from emerging that might replace the existing non-responsive parties—the way the Republicans emerged to replace the Whigs over the issue of slavery. And like poll taxes and literacy tests, they unjustifiably block ballot access. Unlike Democrats or Republicans, independents and third parties have to fight their way onto the ballot in all 50 states. That takes money and boots on the ground. But even with both, an independent candidate will meet immediate trouble from state laws and capricious interpretations by local officials who are themselves typically stalwarts of the ruling duopoly. These officials will challenge the signatures on nomination petitions themselves and even the eligibility of those tasked with collecting them. Consider Ralph Nader’s 2004 presidential campaign. In Pennsylvania, a lawyer for the Democratic Party successfully invalidated the authenticity of over 30,000 of Nader’s signatures—[often for ridiculous reasons](https://psmag.com/the-sneaky-silencing-of-third-party-politicians-df0075334fc4#.8g9r7b4l6) like someone signing “Bill” instead of “William.” And early ballot deadlines prevent independent candidates from emerging after it becomes clear that the choices presented by the two major parties are opposed by so many. [In Texas](http://valleycentral.com/news/local/analysis-for-independent-candidates-texas-law-presents-major-hurdles), for example, this year’s third-party filing deadline fell before the Democratic and Republican primaries were complete. Although an independent candidate can try to work around the trouble spots in states with political opposition, such low-level workarounds have not been successful. The next step? Wage a concerted legal battle across the country, arguing that the current process is rigged to protect the two major parties from real competition. So far, these challenges have not paid off well enough for a viable independent to run for president. But now a nonpartisan group called Better for America is taking up the fight aggressively. BFA’s organizers believe there is still time for someone with integrity, honor, and trustworthiness to compete against the two major party candidates. The group is currently engaged in signature drives to gain access to the ballot in enough states to account for substantially all 538 votes in the Electoral College. However, in several key states like Illinois (with 20 electoral votes), Texas (30), and North Carolina (15), the deadlines have already passed. So, to get on the ballot in all 50 states, the organization is launching a massive legal challenge to state laws that, they contend, are overly burdensome, byzantine and anachronistic. The group believes that unduly high signature thresholds, fickle verification procedures and inconsistent deadlines violate the First Amendment right to free association with like-minded people—especially for a federal election. Since state rules often apply only to minor parties and their candidates (for major parties ballot access is automatic), the group contends that these regulations may also violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal-protection clause, which guarantees that no state can deny its citizens equal rights under the law. Particular legal theories aside, we ourselves support the BFA effort because it cuts to the core of the irrationality and arbitrariness of existing ballot-access laws. Reasonable ballot-access requirements to screen out marginal candidates, prevent voter confusion and help ensure that the winner enjoys the support of a majority of the electorate, not merely a plurality, are not objectionable. However, just as poll taxes were set up to keep certain citizens from expressing their right to vote, current ballot-access laws are deliberately designed to provide a similar obstacle to those who might challenge the two prevailing parties. Indeed, many states purposefully make it impossible for independent candidates to collect the necessary nomination signatures. Florida requires independent campaigns to collect 110,000 signatures by early July. Texas, which has one of the largest voter populations, mandates that independents procure signatures equivalent to 1 percent of turnout in the previous presidential contest. These laws are effective. No independent has won an electoral vote in 58 years. Given a chance, both of us would select a very different flavor of dream candidate. One of us would look for a serious protector of the Constitution, someone who will guard our federal system of decentralized power and the integrity of our three branches of government. The other would choose someone who would put our corrupt money-in-politics system on trial first, and focus on fixing our democracy, so all citizens are represented equally. But here is where we agree: reforming the unfair and unjust ballot-access laws is a vital step toward giving Americans a candidate worthy of their vote and, in the future, getting the major party candidates to better represent America’s views. We hope a great candidate emerges from the Better For America process. We may not like that candidate. In the end, we may each decide to stick with one of the existing candidates or sit this one out. But we admire BFA for taking a stand against laws that, by rigging the ballot-access system for the two existing major parties, are preventing better candidates from emerging this year to provide the American people with a real choice. We cannot expect either Democrats or Republicans to do anything that weakens their existing privilege. Only an independent judiciary can step up and overturn this arbitrary, irrational and discriminatory set of laws and statutes—just as the courts demolished their arbitrary, irrational and discriminatory cousins of years gone by. ## Transcript The lesser evil merely paves the way to the greater evil. Woo! [ APPLAUSE ] I would feel terrible if Donald Trump is elected. I hate what he stands for. But I will feel terrible if Hillary Clinton gets elected, because I hate what she's actually done already. In my view Voters deserve choices. They do not approve of these parties, they do no approve of their candidates, and they care clambering for an honest politics that's not bought and paid for by Wall Street. I'm Jill Stein. I'm am the presumptive nominee for the Green Party for the Office of President. Of the United States, and I am running as a mother and a medical doctor very concerned about the direction we're going. [ MUSIC ] A third party candidate for president has never won a general election, but there's a long history of third party candidates swaying elections In unpredictable ways. The famous example is Ralph Nader in 2000 who's widely considered to have swayed the election in favor of George W. Bush. It's often been said the only wasted vote is the vote for someone you don't believe in. It's a very convenient excuse for the Democrats as to why they lost. They're saying we should silence the Greens, we should silence all opposition. Decision parties and you think that's a solution? You would love to live in Iran or Russia. Tyranny is not the solution to a screwed up voting system. In this election like in many elections, recently we've been told to vote for the lesser of two evils And that basically means vote against who you don't like rather than for what your values are. [ MUSIC ] I will vote for Jill Stein and encourage others to do so. Many of us will write in Bernie or we will be voting for Jill. I'm seriously considering Jill Stein. I think that this is a great opportunity for us to have a viable third party. Our campaign is very similar to Bernie's campaign in terms of our agenda. And what's different about it is that we actually go further than Bernie was able to go inside of a counter- revolution. Bernie is a revolutionary Democratic party so we call for not only living wages for workers and for raising the minimum wage but we call for actually the right to a job. We have got to elect Hillary Clinton and Tim Kay [ SOUND ] Bernie's setting [ UNKNOWN ] example of essentially abandoning ship on that work, which is very sad, and very tragic. Even with some Bernie Sanders supporters switching over to Jill Stein, it's virtually impossible show win. But she could draw liberal voters from Hillary Clinton and hurt her fight against Donald Trump. And perhaps, Prove a point. 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