Editing Strategic voting (section)

=== United States ===
Strategic voting in the US's [[first-past-the-post voting]] and [[presidential system]] contributes to a two-party system, where the observed effect of [[Duverger's law]] is stronger than in most countries.<ref name="Duverger2" />

In 2000, 2016, and 2024, a significant number of voters in the Presidential elections opted to use [[vote swapping]] to increase Democratic turnout in swing states and third-party turnout in safe states.<ref name=Schneider2024>{{Cite news |last=Schneider |first=Aliya |date=2024-11-03 |title=Not sold on Harris over Gaza yet anti-Trump, some Pa. activists are asking blue-state voters to cast protest ballots on their behalf |newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |url=https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/vote-swapping-pro-palestinian-protest-harris-trump-20241103.html}}</ref>

One high-profile example of strategic voting was the [[2002 California gubernatorial election]]. During the Republican primaries, Republicans [[Richard Riordan]] (former mayor of [[Los Angeles]]) and [[Bill Simon (politician)|Bill Simon]] (a self-financed businessman) vied for a chance to compete against the unpopular incumbent Democratic [[Governor of California]], [[Gray Davis]]. Polls predicted that Riordan would defeat Davis, while Simon would not. At that time, the Republican primaries were partially closed primaries in which non-partisans and registered Republicans<ref>{{Cite web |title=Voting in a Primary Election |url=https://cavotes.org/voting-in-primary-election/ |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=League of Women Voters of California {{!}} Education Fund |language=en-US}}</ref> could vote regardless of their party affiliation. Davis supporters (those were eligible to vote in the Republican primary) were rumored to have voted for Simon because Riordan was perceived as a greater threat to Davis; this, combined with a negative advertising campaign by Davis describing Riordan as a "big-city liberal", allowed Simon to win the primary despite a last-minute business [[scandal]]. The strategy to nominate Simon (if in fact it was a reality), was successful, as he lost in the general election against Davis. However, it resulted in the lowest gubernatorial general election turnout in modern California political history, thus requiring fewer signatures to qualify a [[2003 California gubernatorial recall election|recall that ultimately ousted Davis]].

Similarly, in 2012, [[Claire McCaskill]] boosted [[Todd Akin]] in the [[2012 United States Senate election in Missouri|2012 US Senate election in Missouri]]. In addition to running ads highlighting Akin's conservative stances, McCaskill also directed messages to surrogates to tell Akin to run ads which would increase his primary polling.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mccaskill |first=Sen Claire |date=2015-08-11 |title=How I Helped Todd Akin Win – So I Could Beat Him Later |url=http://politi.co/2Dz1clW |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=Politico Magazine |language=en}}</ref>

==== Puerto Rico ====
[[Puerto Rico]]'s 2004 elections were affected by strategic voting. Pedro Rosselló, the [[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|New Progressive Party]]'s candidate of that year, was unpopular across much of the territory due to large corruption schemes and the privatization of public corporations. To prevent Rossell from winning, other factions supported the [[Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico)|Partido Popular Democratico]]'s candidate. The elections were close; statehood advocates won a seat in the U.S. house of representatives and majorities in both legislative branches, but lost governance to [[Aníbal Acevedo Vilá]]. (Puerto Ricans have the chance to vote by party or by candidate. Separatists voted under their ideology but for the center party's candidate, which caused major turmoil.) After a recount and a trial, Acevedo Vilá was certified as governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.