There are two good reasons for libertarians to vote.
1) It is a great way to get the message out. Most people do not read books on philosophy or economics, and most people do not visit libertarian or libertarian leaning websites. A heck of a lot more people know who Ron Paul is than know who Larken Rose is.
I do agree that the Libertarian Party running candidates who grossly misrepresent the philosophy, like Bob Barr, Gary Johnson, Bill Weld, etc..., is a complete waste of time, and is even counterproductive.
I have no problem with anyone running for political office so long as they run on a reasonably strong libertarian platform.
2) As an act of self defense. Sometimes a libertarian may actually get elected, and as an elected official they can help block bad bills and help good bills get passed, plus they can use their position to bring publicity to libertarian views and educate the public (like Ron Paul did).
I also see nothing wrong with voting on ballot initiatives and referendums, so long as one votes in the pro-liberty direction.
Let's say you were in prison for some victimless crime, or on some trumped up charges. Let's say that a libertarian was running for Governor, and if elected, he pledged to pardon you, and to pardon anyone else who is in prison for victimless crimes and/or on trumped up charges. Would you advocate that people don't vote for this libertarian candidate even though this candidate could get you out of prison if elected?
Let's say a libertarian were running for Sheriff against a nasty Democrat and/or Republican candidate for Sheriff who supported a bigger police state, and who turned a blind eye toward, or even actively supported, abusive and corrupt cops. Would you advocate not voting for the libertarian running for Sheriff? Would you rather see the corrupt big government Democrat or Republican take this office and have them running the Sheriff's department in the county where you live?
What if there was an initiative on your ballot to legalize marijuana? Would you advocate that people don't vote yes on it, so it fails and people keep getting arrested for marijuana offenses, and so the cops keep infringing on people's rights in the name of going after people for marijuana?
Let's say that there is a referendum on your ballot to repeal a tax increase? Would you advocate that people not vote in favor of repealing the tax increase., which would mean that lots of people have to pay higher taxes?
I agree that ideally, everyone would adopt the principles of voluntarism and would respect property rights and the Non-Aggression Principle, but this is not going to happen anytime soon, if ever. We are nowhere close to having a majority of the population adopting these principles.
So given this reality, we have to operate in the world as it is right now, not in far off fantasy land where everyone, or at least a majority of people, are hardcore libertarians.
There are also difficult problems that would have to be solved in order to transition into a free society. How should all of the assets held by government be divided up among the public, and who is going to figure this out? What happens to the government's stockpile of weapons, particularly its Weapons of Mass Destruction? What should be done about all of the people who are currently dependent on Social Security? What do you do with all of the people who are currently in prison who are in for legitimate crimes (murder, rape, armed robbery, etc...)? Etc...
I certainly agree that libertarians should promote activities that do not rely on electoral politics that help move society in a more libertarian direction. I'm talking about things like jury nullification of victimless crimes, cryptocurrency, home schooling, and gun ownership, to name a few, but there is no reason why these things can't also be promoted in conjunction with a political campaign.
