NATIONWIDE — The country is just 23 days from the presidential election and people are posing the question “Is this our only option?” after watching the first round of the presidential debate. And there is: A third-party candidate.

What You Need To Know


All eyes right now are on the major parties, but political expert Ed Narain says there are other parties with candidates vying for the seat

While Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival former Vice President Joe Biden are putting more focus on attacking each other than answering questions about what truly matters, it has left many wondering what other options they will have when they cast their votes.

Narain says voters will see several other names on the ballot this year.

“You have the Green Party, which fashions itself to be a little further left than the Democratic Party and you have two have two candidates that are running for president and vice president there. And then you have a Libertarian Party which we also have a set of candidates that are running and they seem to be more about free will and individual choice and responsible government,” explained Narain.

South Carolina’s Clemson University psychology lecturer Jo Jorgensen is looking to fill the seat on the Libertarian side.

“She’s the first women to run on their platform: the Libertarian for president. So that party finds itself a little bit further to the left of the Republican Party that they believe in individual freedoms and they don’t believe in having government involved in many decisions other than a strong military,” said Narain.

Narain says Howie Hawkins is representing the Green Party. Hawkins is no stranger to politics, having ran for New York governor three times.

“For those who are interested in a higher minimum wage, they believe that the minimum wage should be $20 an hour. They believe that all Americans should have jobs thus they believe in the federal job guarantee, they in Medicaid for all,” added Narain.

Narain says he references back to the year 2000 where the state and its Electoral College ended up costing the presidency because of a third party candidate.

In 2016, more 7.6 million voters casted their vote for someone other than current president and Hillary Clinton, so it is possible it can happen again this time around, however Narain says he does not think it will affect this election.

In fact, in the 2020 election, there are other third party candidates to consider.