William F. Galvin, the Massachusetts official in charge of the state’s elections, said on Wednesday that a vote for a third-party candidate is a “waste,” Politico reports.

In a speech to the Massachusetts delegation at the Democratic National Convention, Galvin encouraged Democratic voters not to “waste their vote [on] a third-party candidate or a fourth-party candidate or a protest vote.”

“The only thing a protest vote is going to bring about is a result you don’t want,” Galvin said, according to Politico.

The comments come amid questions about whether so-called “Bernie or bust” voters will choose to vote for Hillary Clinton or another 3rd-party candidate, like the Green Party’s Jill Stein, in the presidential election this fall. Prominent Democratic party members have argued that voting for a smaller political party could help Donald Trump win the presidency.


As Secretary of the Commonwealth, Galvin, a Democrat, is in charge of running the state’s elections. He has previously faced harsh criticism from Evan Falchuk, a leader in the United Independent Party, a small political party that began in 2014.

On Twitter, Falchuk criticized Galvin’s statements as unfair to other political parties and called on him to resign.

How can @UtdIndependent candidates in this election believe they are going to be treated fairly? 1/2 https://t.co/Cmc5Cy5k5R — Evan Falchuk (@efalchuk) July 27, 2016

We must have totally fair – not rigged – elections. Galvin should resign if this is his attitude on his duties. 2/2 https://t.co/Cmc5Cy5k5R — Evan Falchuk (@efalchuk) July 27, 2016

Galvin clarified to Politico that he was only making an “observation” based on the 2000 election in New Hampshire, in which George W. Bush beat Al Gore by just 7,000 votes. The Green Party’s Ralph Nader received 22,000 votes.

“I’m only pointing out what history suggests,” Galvin said. “I’m making an observation based on statistics. This isn’t my opinion, these are proven facts.”

He continued:

“I’m concerned that some people, whether they’re dissatisfied with the Democratic ticket or disappointed about Senator Sanders or any other aspect of the proceedings think that voting for the third party candidate or the fourth party candidate … they somehow achieve some protest.” “What I’m saying is if in chasing that protest, they may well end up doing exactly the opposite of what they want to do and I think the data points to that in 2000 and in other years.”

(via Politico)