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DES MOINES — Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson told about 400 supporters at a rally Saturday not to let anyone tell them they will be wasting their votes if they support a third-party candidate in the 2016 election.

“Wasting your vote is voting for somebody you don’t believe in. That’s wasting your vote,” he said to thunderous applause at a Grand View University venue.

Johnson, 63, a former two-term governor from New Mexico, knows he is fighting an uphill battle in a presidential race dominated by Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, but he believes that would change if he were allowed to be on the same stage with them during the upcoming televised debates.

“There is no chance that I have or (running mate) Bill Weld has of getting elected president or vice president without being in the presidential debate,” said Johnson, who is working to achieve the 15 percent polling threshold set by debate organizers for participation.