Not a Vote Wasted: A Look Into Third Party Votes in 2012 Presidential Election
While most of the country was tied up with the competition going on during the 2012 Presidential Election between the Democrat and Republican Presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, many other Americans were rooting for the underdogs. The gap between Romney and Obama in the popular vote was more significant than you'd think. Growing support for third party candidates don't have the major political parties worried, but evidence shows that they should think about gearing up for competition in future Presidential elections. With Gary Johnson, Libertarian Party 2012 Presidential candidate, ahead in the national popular vote amongst the third parties and the Green Party holding the majority of offices as compared to other third parties, the mainstream parties may have to begin gearing up against growing and very real additional competition.

According to 2012 Presidential Election results, Incumbent Barack Obama received 50.6% of the national popular vote, with 47.8% for Republi...

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