Explain Like I'm 5 (ELI5)

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ELI5: Why do only the two biggest parties in the US a chance to win an election? (feddit.org)

submitted 6 days ago by tux0r@feddit.org to c/eli5@lemmy.world

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I mean, there is a variety of intriguing political parties, but it's still always "Republicans or Democrats". Why?

(Disclosure: I'm German, never been to the US.)

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[–] tux0r@feddit.org 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

they use their power to suppress third parties nationwide so voters only ever have two choices.

How do they do that?

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

There are several ways. Some states have made it harder for candidates to get on the ballot, which is one method of suppressing third parties. Sometimes they sue and challenge a third party's ballot status, as was done to Jill Stein several times this year. In some states, they don't really have to, as they can use their unlimited funds to ensure their names are the only ones heard in the media.