Comment: a buddy asked me:

Hi Al,
Just received my Absentee Ballot the other day. Have not yet opened it.
Could use some counseling though. Would you give me a hand? Lee
I replied:
'Lo, Lee
My counsel goes like this: I think both major parities are for the birds. So I do not select either a democrat or republican anywhere on the ballot. I then look at who is left, and pick from one of them for president.
Where I see only republican and democratic candidates for an office and no other choice, I do not vote there. That way there would be one less vote acknowledging the validity of either major party. That's worth it to me.
The various remaining candidates on the ballot after eliminating voting for dems or reps, I choose from.
In the SD case that left only two choices.
For pres I had a Libertarian or Constitution party to choose from. I chose Libertarian (Gary Johnson).
The other one was for a municipal director's job, and I chose the only other choice, another Libertarian.
I was not able to write in Ron Paul, because in SD write-ins are not allowed. That was OK with me though, because before I got the ballot, I had decided to vote for Johnson, after the doctor bowed out.
Hope my detailing of my thought process during voting helps in your deliberations, only other thing to say: Vote what you heart tells you to do! AL