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Ear to the Ground

None of the Above

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Posted on Apr 24, 2007

It may sound redundant or contradictory, but Florida state Sen. Mike Bennett proposed a bill that would give voters another ballot choice besides the candidates in the running:  “I choose not to vote.”  Floridians fatigued by the alleged frauds and hanging chads of recent years (as well as mudslinging campaigns), could signal their distaste by using the new option.


Local6.com:

Hoping to prevent a repeat, he persuaded the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee to approve a bill, SB-494, on Monday that would require ballots to have the additional option of “I choose not to vote.”

That option could not win a race, and the actual candidate with the highest number of votes would win the election.

Bennett, R-Bradenton, said the no-choice option would enable uninformed or disgusted voters to opt out in a way that clearly displays their intention to abstain. ...

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By DennisD, April 24, 2007 at 8:10 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Why not tie our elections in with American Idol so they’ll be something the average uninformed voter can comprehend. Make them the complete farce they’ve long since become to the rest of the world. “None of the above” is what we have running the country into the ground right now.

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By Douglas Chalmers, April 24, 2007 at 5:00 pm Link to this comment

There is a problem with what to do when none of the candidates on either side are satisfactory. In the end, though, choosing the lesser evil is always better than allowing the worst to win by default. You can always change things again later at the next election.

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By Trigger finger, April 24, 2007 at 2:04 pm Link to this comment
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If you chose not to vote, in Florida, that’s counted on the Bush side of the ballot.

If you voted for Kerry, in Florida, that’s counted on the Bush side of the ballot.

If you voted for bush, in the USA, that’s counted on the moron side of the ballot.

It’s all pretty simple, just like the moron.  He is so simple, he can read a couple of shak spears over a weekend.  Either that means there are a lot of pictures in his shak spears or not very many, depending on his simple comprehension of comic book pictures.  He enjoys a good shak spear with his morning donut too.

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By QuyTran, April 24, 2007 at 12:09 pm Link to this comment

I choose not to vote over 6 years ago when Bush/Cheney on the ticket !

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By oregoncharles, April 24, 2007 at 10:08 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

That is a fake alternative.  A genuine “None of the Above” applies to EACH ballot slot, and can win that race, sending it back to renominations.  It means that all candidates have been rejected.  The Russians have this option, or used to, but it hasn’t done them much good. 

You can make a similar statement by skipping a particular ballot line; this is the “undervote”, and it is counted, but it isn’t binding - the listed candidate with the most votes wins.  It does cause confusion, since it can be taken as a sign that the voter was unable to register a vote on that line.  Unless you have good paper ballots - in Oregon, it’s taken as intentional.

You could also writein “no-one”; no idea what would happen if that one won, but it would certainly be humiliating for the lousy candidates listed.

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