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Sorry, I voted for the Pirate Party the last three times, and they still didn't get enough votes for even half a seat the last time. There's a limit to how often I'm throwing my vote away. Luckily there are a few other parties with sensible policies.

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I‘ve heard the same reasoning from someone who voted for „one of the big parties“ so his vote wouldn‘t be thrown away, the same person is ow complaining about the politics of the party he voted for. If you don’t give your vote to a party, just because it could be lost, you will ultimately end up with only 1 party to vote for.

Unlikely in Dutch parliament; we currently have 13 parties in its 150 seats. And the PP isn't my perfect party, and also not the only one with good internet and privacy (and social, and environmental, etc.) policies. I just would have liked them to get at least one seat, to get a voice in parliament, which can be quite effective, see e.g. the successes of the Party for the Animals (PvdD), who started similarly. I tend to vote for small parties anyway.

votes for small parties are not lost, their main effect comes from causing the behavior of the large blocks to shift over time, even if only a little.

as an example, many parties now feature some feminist points, even though it was originally against their ideology.

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