Is Nader Trading Legal and Moral?
Nader Trading can help third parties gain a modest amount of influence.
It’s not just for Greens and Democrats, Libertarians and Republicans can be Nader Traders too.
Consider a close presidential race between two major party candidates Y & Z, and unaffiliated candidate U, who has no chance of winning.
Voter A loves unaffiliated candidate U, and prefers major party candidate Y over Z. Voter A lives in a state that is contested by major party candidates Y and Z.
Voter B loves major party candidate Y, and likes unaffiliated U. Voter B lives in a state that is safe for major party candidate Y.
In a “Nader Trade,” Voter A agrees to vote for major party candidate Y. In exchange, Voter B votes for unaffiliated candidate U.
Voter A gets a vote for unaffiliated U, without spoiling the chances of preferred major party candidate Y.
Voter B gets a vote in a contested state for beloved major party candidate Y.
Is it Legal & Moral
It is Nader Trading legal? Yes. In Porter v. Bowen, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth District ruled that Nader Trading is constitutionally protected under the First Amendment.[1]
Is it moral? If not, it is a lot less immoral than what Choose 1 voting does to third-party and independent candidates.
Nader and Gore Lose the Election
Ralph Nader opposed the Nader Trader concept and asked his supporters not to take part. If Nader had embraced Nader Trading, Al Gore might have won the 2000 election.
In 2000, Ralph Nader, with 97,488 votes in Florida, spoiled the presidential election. According to political scientists Michael Herron and Jeffrey Lewis, this happened even though 40% of Nader’s voters would have supported George Bush or not voted at all, leaving 60% of Nader’s votes to Al Gore. The 60/40 split would have given Gore the election.[2]
The Gore campaign challenged late-arriving overseas absentee ballots that lacked postmarks. Most of these ballots came from military personnel. Overseas military mail often lacks postmarks.
[3]
“We thought this is manna from heaven” reminisced former Secretary of State James Baker, who oversaw the recount for the Bush campaign. This manna gave the US Supreme Court plenty of cover to stop the recount with George Bush ahead by 537 votes.
Might this happen again? Please visit The Spoiler Effect in Presidential Elections.
[2] Did Ralph Nader Spoil a Gore Presidency? A Ballot-Level Study of Green and Reform Party Voters in the 2000 Presidential Election read here
[3] The military ballots that have divided Democrats for 15 years. Bush vs Gore military ballots