I’m from a country with ranked choice voting. We can vote for our preferred third-party candidate and it’s not only fine but better. Even if they don’t get in, they will get a portion of government money for help with campaigning in future elections, and our vote for the first viable candidate will be counted instead.
In the USA this is totally not the case. Your electoral system is designed to prevent third-party votes from meaning anything. As an anarchist who hates the politics of both neoliberal US major parties, I would still vote democrat, because a third-party vote is literally a wasted vote. It does not influence the 2 major parties in any way. They know there is no real threat from minor parties or independents unless they have massive overwhelming majority support.
Change the system through political action, community engagement, and spreading information. This vote will not change a thing unless it’s for a major party, and only really if you’re in a swing state. It’s shit but true.