Jill Stein and other third-party candidates could swing the U.S. election

All eyes are trained on presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump but third-party votes could determine the election result.

As the race is so close, votes syphoned off for Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Independent Robert F Kennedy Jr could swing the outcome.

Another third party ‘spoiler’ could be Independent candidate Cornel West, though he has just failed to get on the presidential ballot in the key state of Pennsylvania, according to Associated Press.

Although Robert F Kennedy Jr dropped out of the race earlier this year to endorse Donald Trump, his name is still on the ballot paper.

Meanwhile, Jill Stein, who has been critical of Israel’s actions in the Middle East, is set to win a proportion of the Democrat vote from a slice of the electorate unhappy with Harris’ stance on the issue.

The Abandon Harris campaign is appealing to voters across the US to vote for Stein in a bid to change US policy towards Israel.

Michigan-based American Arab and Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC) told Al Jazeera, that it is backing Stein “based on her steadfast commitment to peace, justice, and a call for immediate ceasefires in conflict zones.”

A vote for Kennedy is likely to be based on dissatisfaction with Trump’s hold over the Republican party, according to The Guardian.

“If you take the many Republicans who are unhappy with Trump as the candidate, and if they don’t want to vote for Harris, they might wind up voting for RFK,” Bernard Tamas, a professor of political science at Valdosta State University, told the news site.

The author of “The Demise and Rebirth of American Third Parties”, Tamas added, that they would do this “basically as a protest.”

According to Nura Sediqe, an assistant professor in American politics at Michigan State University, Stein “could shave away votes from the Democratic party, particularly amongst young people from 18 to 40.”

These, she told The Guardian, would be “from specific ethno-racial backgrounds who are voting – Arab Americans and American Muslims.”

This prompted Trump to say at a rally in Philadelphia: “Jill Stein, I like her very much. You know why? She takes 100% from [Democrats].”

A survey of Muslim Americans by the Council on American-Islamic Relations of American Muslims found that 42.3% plan to vote for Stein, 41% for Harris and 9.8% for Trump.

In contrast, a national survey of Arab Americans found Trump in the lead with 43% of the vote, followed by Harris with 41% and Stein down at 4%.

In Michigan where the vote for Stein is polled as strong, Democrats are issuing a desperate last-minute warning that a vote for a third-party candidate is a vote for Trump.

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