How could a third party affect the outcome of an election in a two-party system?

A third party can significantly influence an election outcome in a two-party system primarily by pulling votes from one of the major parties. This phenomenon occurs when a third-party candidate attracts voters who might otherwise support one of the dominant parties. This scenario can lead to a situation where a major party loses votes to the third party, thereby impacting the overall election results.

For instance, if a third-party candidate resonates with voters who align more closely with the platform of a major party, those votes may diminish the major party's support, possibly allowing the opposing major party to win, even if they have less overall voter support compared to both the third-party candidate and the major party. This dynamic illustrates how third parties, although not traditionally dominating the electoral landscape, can serve as crucial actors that disrupt the expected outcomes of elections by affecting voter distribution.

While the other choices may seem relevant to election outcomes, they do not capture the critical way a third party can specifically change the trajectory of an election through voter realignment.