“Defensive voting” is not so much “voting for” a candidate as it is “voting against” another candidate, who is the greater evil. “Defensive voting” is voting for the lesser of two evils.
 
“I think black people on the national level are engaged in defensive voting—not so much for Walter Mondale as much as against Ronald Reagan,” a political science professor was quoted saying in 1984.
 
 
3 November 1984, Boston (MA) Globe, “Size of Turnout by Black Voters Is a Question Mark in the Election” by Robert Jordan, pg. 36:
Ron Walters, a professor of political science at Howard University and an adviser to Rev. Jesse L. Jackson’s presidential campaign, agreed. “At this moment, we have no idea what he would do to curb high unemployment in the black community, or what he would do to spark industrial growth and a number of other things,” he said. “So I think black people on the national level are engaged in defensive voting—not so much for Walter Mondale as much as against Ronald Reagan.”
 
13 October 1994, Buffalo (NY) News, “Cuomo Isn’t Connecting with Core Constituencies” by Rod Watson, pg. B3:
But none of that may help Cuomo get his own disaffected constituency to the polls. The notion of “defensive voting” is a hard sell even though rationally—there’s that word again—thwarting a threat makes as much sense as voting for someone.
   
30 November 2000, Detroit (MI) Free Press, “Third Party Barrier Won’t Stop Libertarians” by Tim O’Brien, pg. A19:
This defensive voting (to mitigate the damage of having one or the other old-party candidates elected president) has given rise to the all too common lament: “I didn’t like either of them, but I had to vote for the lesser of two evils.”
 
Twitter
Evo Terra’s stuff
‏@evo_terra
@tankilo Personally, I abandoned “voting against” or “defensive voting” several elections ago. I vote for the person I want to win. Period.
2:21 PM - 29 Oct 2008
     
patheos
Defensive Voting is Offensive
March 28, 2016 by Doreen A. Mannion
(...)
Defensive voting is getting a lot of play this primary season. I’m a political junkie and I’d never heard of it before last fall. Defensive voting is the strategy of voting against someone instead of for someone in the primary. Voting against someone may be done by actually voting for someone else (thus voting against the person you don’t want) or by voting for the person you don’t want so they (theoretically) face someone on the other side you believe will beat them.
 
Twitter
Jezus
‏@JamalNotAshy
Niggas doing defensive voting….voting for one person you don’t want to vote for so the person you REALLY don’t want to win doesnt…
11:19 AM - 4 May 2016
 
steemit
October 9, 2016
Why “Defensive Voting” is Basically a Bullshit Concept
by kafkanarchy8469 in anarchy
At the end of the day, politely asking ACTUAL SERIAL MURDERERS, RAPISTS, AND THIEVES WHO HATE FREEDOM to please allow themselves to be voted out of power via a voting system THEY CREATED, based foundationally on murder and theft, and to vie for freedom, is an asinine, inane, and illogical concept. In this video I explain why.
 
Twitter
Nicole
‏@NicoleColorad0
@HillaryClinton @FLOTUS Not true. Defensive voting hurts the system. “Lesser of two evils” is something Americans need to stop accepting.
10:53 AM - 14 Oct 2016
 
The Huffington Post
Defensive Voting: Why All Progressives Should Support Hillary Clinton
11/04/2016 01:23 pm ET
William Hartung
Writer and Foreign Policy Expert
(...)
It’s no secret that some progressives are less than enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton, but it’s time to put those reservations aside and vote for her, for the good of the country and the good of the progressive movement.
 
For her critics on the left, voting for Hillary Clinton is like defensive driving — it’s not the most fun thing you’ll ever do, but if you don’t do it there could be a huge catastrophe. Think of it as “defensive voting.”
 
Twitter
Kay The King 🖕🏾
‏@TexasKingKay
“Defensive voting”: voting for one candidate just so the other won’t win. It’s sad this is what we’ve come to. #ElectionDay #kaytheking
2:12 PM - 8 Nov 2016