The election for 2016 has been controversial to say the least. Fringe voters may find refuge in the candidates that lie outside of the recognized political spectrum. These alternative options include Green Party candidate Jill Stein with running mate Ajamu Baraka, and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson with running mate John Weld.

Jill Stein is a returning Green Party candidate who also ran for president in 2012. According to her website, Jill2016.com, Stein is an organizer, physician, and environmental health advocate.

She has led initiatives to address environmental issues, social injustices, community health disparities, and strengthen local and green economies. Ajamu Baraka, Stein’s running mate, is a Human Rights defender and grassroots veteran for the Black Liberation Movement.

Stein believes that our current bipartisan government is fractured and lacking morals.

“If you can’t put your values into your vote, then democracy is lost at sea. We have no moral compass and that is where we are at right now.” Stein expressed on her website.

In an interview with Democracy Now’s Expanded Debate Edition, Stein proposed a plan of action called the “Green New Deal.” She contends that this plan would create 20 million good wage jobs, promise 100 percent clean and renewable energy by 2030, and cut military spending. She adds that with military spending trimmed, student loan debt could be resolved with a student bailout.

Amber Rahn, an Eastside Madison resident and long-time democrat, is voting for Stein.

“For the first time in my life I am so unhappy, disillusioned, disappointed with the democratic party that I just can’t bring myself to cast a vote for (Hillary Clinton) in this election cycle,” Rahn says.

By voting for Stein, Rahn explains that she is taking a new approach.

“I’m investing my vote this time around. I’m not looking at it as throwing away my vote or wasting my vote, I’m going to invest it,” Rahn says.

The other fringe candidate, Gary Johnson, represents the Republican independent standpoint. As a two-term governor of

New Mexico, Johnson bases public policy on practical cost and benefit analysis, according to his website, johnsonweld.com.

Johnson is a self-made businessman who decided to join the ring of politics. For New Mexico, he has balanced the budget with a billion dollar surplus, improved schools and infrastructure, and handled a state emergency with the Cerro Grande Fire of 2000. John Weld, Johnson’s running mate, was governor of Massachusetts from 1990-1994. According to the campaign website, Weld has been fiscally responsible without compromising state programs.

Johnson’s position on the issues that face this country involve cutting the size and influence of the government.

“Keep government out of our bedrooms and out of our pockets,” he says.

However, Johnson has been criticized for his lack of foreign policy knowledge. When questioned during a recent interview about the crisis in Aleppo, a city at the center of Syria’s refugee crisis, he responded with, “What is Aleppo?”

In an interview by Fox Business, political activist Kris Novoselic, the bassist for the band Nirvana, shares his support for Johnson.

“My supporting [Johnson and Weld] is not some protest vote or some kind of stunt or anything. These are viable candidates.”

Novoselic explains that the Johnson and Weld ticket have experience which could greatly benefit our country.

Voters face a challenging election choice this year, and knowing about all of the options available is crucial.