This year’s upcoming presidential election has been a close race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are trying to throw a wrench in the election, but they're not exactly getting the momentum they need.That's bad news for voters who don't want to see Clinton or Trump in the White House, so they're trying something called, 'vote swapping."“I'm going to trade my vote for someone in California, and they can vote for my third-party candidate, and I’ll vote for one of the major-party candidates to ensure that my least favorite major-party candidate doesn't win,” University of New Mexico political science professor Lonna Atkeson said. An example of how it works: Let's say there's a voter in a swing state such as Virginia who wants to vote for Gary Johnson, but is afraid that her vote for Johnson is essentially a vote for Trump. This voter can make a deal with a Clinton voter in a solidly blue state, such as Maryland. Our Virginia voter promises to vote for Clinton, and the Maryland voter votes for Johnson so that a vote still gets cast for Johnson, but without the risk of Clinton losing a vote in a swing state. There are apps to help voters through vote swapping, a seemingly complicated process that is gaining momentum.

This year’s upcoming presidential election has been a close race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.



Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are trying to throw a wrench in the election, but they're not exactly getting the momentum they need.




That's bad news for voters who don't want to see Clinton or Trump in the White House, so they're trying something called, 'vote swapping."



“I'm going to trade my vote for someone in California, and they can vote for my third-party candidate, and I’ll vote for one of the major-party candidates to ensure that my least favorite major-party candidate doesn't win,” University of New Mexico political science professor Lonna Atkeson said.



An example of how it works:

Let's say there's a voter in a swing state such as Virginia who wants to vote for Gary Johnson, but is afraid that her vote for Johnson is essentially a vote for Trump. This voter can make a deal with a Clinton voter in a solidly blue state, such as Maryland. Our Virginia voter promises to vote for Clinton, and the Maryland voter votes for Johnson so that a vote still gets cast for Johnson, but without the risk of Clinton losing a vote in a swing state.



There are apps to help voters through vote swapping, a seemingly complicated process that is gaining momentum.