By this point it’s fully apparent that a clash of worldviews ends up as a clash of ballot questions and a clash of candidacies, a clash of partisan positions and platforms, a clash between American citizens who it is clear are polarized in terms of very divergent and even conflicting worldviews on so many of these vitally important questions. But at the worldview analysis level, it’s also important for us to understand that we have been talking about the presidential election in terms of the two major party candidates: Hillary Clinton, the Democratic standard-bearer, and Donald Trump, who is the nominee of the Republican Party. But in every state, there will be others on the ballot. This is the so-called third-party question.

At this point, we need to remember a simple matter of math and the Electoral College. Under our constitutional system, it is virtually impossible, certainly extremely unlikely, that any third-party candidate could be elected President of the United States. It’s almost impossible to envision any scenario in which a third-party candidate could garner the requisite 270 votes in the Electoral College. That’s because there is a set number of states that almost always votes Democratic, and there’s another set of states that almost always votes Republican. And it’s almost impossible to imagine how it could be possible that any third-party candidates could break through those walls. But it’s not impossible that a third-party candidate could win one individual state, though that hasn’t happened in decades.

It is important to understand that third-party candidates, however, indicate something of the worldview diversity that is represented in terms of the American electorate. Two third-party candidates thus deserve our attention.

On the far left, Jill Stein, a physician who is running as the nominee of the Green Party; and in another position the Libertarian nominee, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. In both cases, we’re looking at interesting people, and in both cases we’re looking at interesting worldviews. In terms of the Green Party, this is the party of the radical left. It is likely that Jill Stein, according to polls, will only receive about 3% of the vote. But remember, when you’re talking about millions of votes cast, 3% is a significant mathematical number. That tells us that a significant number of Americans, nowhere near a majority but a significant number, hold to the radical positions, or at least are voting for the candidate of those positions, on the far left.

When it comes to the Green Party, this is a party that, though not officially pacifist, is very nearly so. This is a party that calls for a radical restructuring of the American government and of the American economy, pushing it in a socialist direction far beyond even the proposals of the candidate who ran as a Democratic Socialist, independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. He ran that way, of course, in the Democratic primaries. When it comes to the Green Party, you’re also looking at a party that makes promises. Jill Stein herself referred to these promises as aspirational goals; they include housing, guaranteed housing for all Americans. It also points to a basic economic restructuring that would address what she considers to be income inequality that can be corrected by the redistribution of wealth in the United States. Now it’s unlikely that Green Party candidates will gain supremacy in any state. But what’s interesting is that just 3% could become crucial in a state in terms of a very close election. Just remember that many Democrats still fault third-party candidate Ralph Nader for Al Gore’s loss in the State of Florida in the 2000 Presidential Election. Whether or not Nader’s votes actually did doom Al Gore in terms of the Florida vote is unclear, but what is still very much a part of the Democratic memory is that it was a live question.

The candidacy of Gary Johnson running as the standard-bearer of the Libertarian Party is also very interesting in terms of worldview analysis. The libertarian worldview is difficult to define, but the Libertarian Party and the libertarian instinct in the United States has been towards less federal government, a smaller government in general, less activism in terms of the international equation, more attention to domestic issues, and the preservation of political freedom at the individual level. The libertarian worldview basically holds as one of the highest values the preservation of individual liberty. This means that compared to conservatives, libertarians believe in far fewer items of legislation and regulation related to personal behavior. Now this raises some interesting worldview issues. There is an overlap between libertarians and conservatives in terms of the fear of the reach of government and the fear that the larger the government, the greater the encroachments on human liberty and human flourishing. But where conservatives and libertarians differ is over the role of the government in upholding that which is right and leads to righteousness, even in terms of preventing behavior that is understood to be injurious to citizens.

So to look at specific issues, Gary Johnson, the former Governor of New Mexico, is avidly pro-choice when it comes to abortion questions, believing the government should basically be out of the equation, holding up human liberty even to a woman’s autonomy to make the decision to kill the unborn life within her. One of the other interesting things about Gary Johnson is his position on marijuana. He’s actually involved in the marijuana business in terms of at least part of the trade or peripherals for marijuana use, and he has admitted to using marijuana—though he has, interestingly enough, pledged that he would not use marijuana while in office if he is elected president. Let’s just remember that in 1992’s presidential election, then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton admitted that when he was a college student he smoked marijuana, but you’ll recall his claim that he didn’t actually inhale. No such reticence when it comes to Governor Johnson. He says that he definitely did and does inhale, but he doesn’t right now, and he wouldn’t during the time he was in office if he were to be elected. As of this morning, Governor Johnson was polling at about 4% of the American electorate nationwide.

Voters in several states have the opportunity to vote for Evan McMullin, an independent candidate and former CIA operative, who is running as a traditional conservative in terms of policies very much in line with recent Republican presidential nominees. It will be mathematically impossible for Evan McMullin today to be elected President of the United States. That’s because he’s not on the ballot in a sufficient number of states to come anywhere close to the 270 electoral votes necessary. But what’s really interesting is that McMullin, himself a Mormon, is in contention to win the State of Utah. That would be a very interesting political development. It would make history. It would be the first time in decades that any independent or third-party candidate has won a single Electoral College vote. Furthermore, when you think about how close a presidential election could be, that could be decisive in terms of the election going one way or the other. It’s unlikely, but it is still very possible.

Today, it will be fully evident, regardless of the electoral decision, that there is a deep polarization of worldviews in the United States. But it will also be clear if we look beneath the level of the headlines that there is a diversity of worldviews in this country that goes beyond even what is represented by the two major political parties. There are such important issues on the ballot today. Let everyone of us exercise the franchise, let everyone of us exercise the stewardship as best God would lead us in terms of our convictions and our conscience. And as I said yesterday on the eve of Election Day, I also say today: Let us pray for our nation; let us pray for this election; and let us without hesitation pray for one another.