Editing Spoiler effect (section)

=== United States ===
{{See also|Electoral fusion in the United States}}A spoiler campaign in the United States is often one that cannot realistically win but can still determine the outcome by pulling support from a more competitive candidate.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=April 18, 2024 |title=The Spoiled Election: Independents and the 2024 Election |url=https://harvardpolitics.com/the-spoiled-election-independents-and-the-2024-election/ |access-date=2024-08-24 |website=[[Harvard Political Review]] |quote=Perot was running what is commonly referred to as a “spoiler campaign,” a campaign that cannot win the election but still impacts its outcome.}}</ref> The two major parties in the United States, the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], have regularly won 98% of all state and federal seats.<ref name="Masket">{{Cite journal |last=Masket |first=Seth |date=Fall 2023 |title=Giving Minor Parties a Chance |url=https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/70/giving-minor-parties-a-chance/ |journal=[[Democracy (journal)|Democracy]] |volume=70}}</ref> The US presidential elections most consistently cited as having been spoiled by third-party candidates are [[1844 United States presidential election|1844]]<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Green |first=Donald J. |title=Third-party matters: politics, presidents, and third parties in American history |date=2010 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=978-0-313-36591-1 |location=Santa Barbara, Calif |pages=153–154}}</ref> and [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]].<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Burden |first=Barry C. |date=September 2005 |title=Ralph Nader's Campaign Strategy in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1532673x04272431 |journal=[[American Politics Research]] |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=672–699 |doi=10.1177/1532673x04272431 |issn=1532-673X |s2cid=43919948}}</ref><ref name="spoiler-myth-ucla">{{Cite journal |last1=Herron |first1=Michael C. |last2=Lewis |first2=Jeffrey B. |date=April 24, 2006 |title=Did Ralph Nader spoil Al Gore's Presidential bid? A ballot-level study of Green and Reform Party voters in the 2000 Presidential election |journal=[[Quarterly Journal of Political Science]] |publisher=Now Publishing Inc. |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=205–226 |doi=10.1561/100.00005039}} [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080216081328/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/lewis/pdf/greenreform9.pdf Pdf.]</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite news |last=Roberts |first=Joel |date=July 27, 2004 |title=Nader to crash Dems' party? |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nader-to-crash-dems-party/ |work=[[CBS News]]}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> The [[2016 United States presidential election|2016]] election is more disputed as to whether it contained spoiler candidates or not.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last1=Devine |first1=Christopher J. |last2=Kopko |first2=Kyle C. |date=2021-09-01 |title=Did Gary Johnson and Jill Stein Cost Hillary Clinton the Presidency? A Counterfactual Analysis of Minor Party Voting in the 2016 US Presidential Election |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/for-2021-0011/html?lang=en |journal=The Forum |language=en |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=173–201 |doi=10.1515/for-2021-0011 |issn=1540-8884 |s2cid=237457376 |quote=The perception that Johnson and Stein 'stole' the 2016 presidential election from Clinton is widespread...Our analysis indicates that Johnson and Stein did not deprive Clinton of an Electoral College majority, nor Trump the legitimacy of winning the national popular vote.}}</ref><ref name="Haberman">{{Cite news |last1=Haberman |first1=Maggie |author-link=Maggie Haberman |last2=Hakim |first2=Danny |author-link2=Danny Hakim |last3=Corasaniti |first3=Nick |date=2020-09-22 |title=How Republicans Are Trying to Use the Green Party to Their Advantage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/22/us/politics/green-party-republicans-hawkins.html?searchResultPosition=1 |access-date=2024-08-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |quote=Four years ago, the Green Party candidate played a significant role in several crucial battleground states, drawing a vote total in three of them — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — that exceeded the margin between Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton.}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last=Schreckinger |first=Ben |date=2017-06-20 |title=Jill Stein Isn't Sorry |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/20/jill-stein-green-party-no-regrets-2016-215281 |access-date=2023-06-07 |website=POLITICO Magazine |language=en}}</ref> For the [[2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election]], Republican lawyers and operatives have fought to keep right-leaning third-parties like the [[Constitution Party (United States)|Constitution Party]] off swing state ballots<ref>{{Cite web |last=Levy |first=Marc |date=2024-08-21 |title=Democrats get a third-party hopeful knocked off Pennsylvania ballot, as Cornel West tries to get on |url=https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-ballot-2024-west-kennedy-cc5507101bcd198028b04945d2d03aa3 |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=AP News |language=en |quote=Republicans and Democrats view third-party candidates as a threat to siphon critical support from their nominees, especially considering that Pennsylvania was decided by margins of tens of thousands of votes both in 2020 for Democrat Joe Biden and in 2016 for Trump.}}</ref> while working to get [[Cornel West]] on battleground ballots.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Slodysko |first=Brian |date=2024-07-16 |title=Kennedy and West third-party ballot drives are pushed by secretive groups and Republican donors |url=https://apnews.com/article/kennedy-west-third-party-2024-election-10c4c166ad4d41cab73660c33a69a58a |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=AP News |language=en |quote=there are signs across the country that groups are trying to affect the outcome by using deceptive means — and in most cases in ways that would benefit Republican Donald Trump. Their aim is to whittle away President Joe Biden’s standing with the Democratic Party’s base by offering left-leaning, third-party alternatives who could siphon off a few thousand protest votes in close swing state contests.}}</ref> Democrats have helped some right-leaning third-parties gain ballot access while challenging ballot access of left-leaning third-parties like the [[Green Party of the United States|Green Party]].<ref name=":132">{{Cite news |last=Schleifer |first=Theodore |date=2024-08-29 |title=To Beat Trump, Democrats Seek to Help Anti-Abortion Candidate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/29/us/politics/trump-terry-anti-abortion.html |access-date=2024-08-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>  [[Barry Burden]] argues that they have almost no chance of winning the 2024 election but are often motivated by particular issues.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burden |first=Barry C. |date=2024-04-30 |title=Third parties will affect the 2024 campaigns, but election laws written by Democrats and Republicans will prevent them from winning |url=https://theconversation.com/third-parties-will-affect-the-2024-campaigns-but-election-laws-written-by-democrats-and-republicans-will-prevent-them-from-winning-226877 |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Third party (U.S. politics)|Third party]] candidates are always controversial because almost anyone could play spoiler.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gift |first=Thomas |date=2024-01-11 |title=US election: third party candidates can tip the balance in a tight race – here's why Robert F Kennedy Jr matters |url=https://theconversation.com/us-election-third-party-candidates-can-tip-the-balance-in-a-tight-race-heres-why-robert-f-kennedy-jr-matters-220578 |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Milligan">{{Cite news |last=Milligan |first=Susan |date=March 22, 2024 |title=The Promise and the Perils of the Third-Party Candidate |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2024-03-22/the-promise-and-the-perils-of-the-third-party-candidate |work=US News and World Report |quote=And despite the contenders' claims that the nation deserves an alternative to two unpopular major party choices, the reality, experts say, is that these back-of-the-pack candidates may well cement the election of the candidate they least want in the White House.}}</ref> This is especially true in close elections where the chances of a spoiler effect increase.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Skelley |first=Geoffrey |date=2023-07-13 |title=Why A Third-Party Candidate Might Help Trump — And Spoil The Election For Biden |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/third-party-candidate-spoiler-trump-biden/ |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=FiveThirtyEight |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Strategic voting]], especially prevalent during high stakes elections with high [[Political polarization in the United States|political polarization]], often leads to a third-party that underperforms its poll numbers with voters wanting to make sure their least favorite candidate is not in power.<ref name="Masket" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burden |first=Barry C. |author-link=Barry Burden |date=2024-04-30 |title=Third parties will affect the 2024 campaigns, but election laws written by Democrats and Republicans will prevent them from winning |url=https://theconversation.com/third-parties-will-affect-the-2024-campaigns-but-election-laws-written-by-democrats-and-republicans-will-prevent-them-from-winning-226877 |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=DeSilver |first=Drew |date=2024-06-27 |title=Third-party and independent candidates for president often fall short of early polling numbers |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/06/27/third-party-and-independent-candidates-for-president-often-fall-short-of-early-polling-numbers/ |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}</ref> Third-party campaigns are more likely to result in the candidate a third party voter least wants in the White House.<ref name="Milligan" /> Third-party candidates prefer to focus on their platform than on their impact on the frontrunners.<ref name="Milligan" />