2023-12-17

For those dissatisfied with our "democracy", one of the problems that presents is how to demonstrate that dissatisfaction at the ballot box without voting for somebody that has little or no public standing.

It is true that one can spoil one's paper, which whilst it does indicate dissatisfaction is also not very effective, since the reasoning behind such spoilage cannot be reliably ascertained and is never formally reported (except to the candidates in person at the count). In short, dissatisfaction thus demonstrated is readily brushed aside, and many who don't want to vote for any candidate on offer will simply stay away from the poll and thus be (wronly) presumed disinterested.

But what if ...
... there was a NOTA (none of the above) option on the ballot paper in addition to the names of the candidates? Well, probably not of itself effective, since this too could be brushed aside ...
... unless of course NOTA could actually be elected!

What would this mean?

It could mean that the seat in Parliament (or the local council) would simply be left vacant, thus proving an embarrassment to the system but little else, barring a vanishingly unlikely mass vote for NOTA across the entire electorate. 

But with an appropriate process to rectify the vacancy to the electorate's satisfaction, this idea could hold promise.

Would it be enough of itself to bring meaningful reform to the overall system?

In my view, given the stranglehold that the main parties have on our voting habits currently, very probably not, but as part of a wider package of electoral reform, I would suggest that it should have a place. After all, if NOTA comes in first past the post, then it's hard to argue that the electorate would be happy to be represented by any of the actual candidates on offer.

"The huge show of public support for NOTA that this provoked compelled the PCRC to recommend in it’s final report (published 05/02/15) that the next government hold a public consultation before May 2016 specifically on inclusion of NOTA on ballot papers"

So it looks as though there is significant support by the public for such a facility, even if the government of the day somehow didn't find the time/resources to mount that pubic consultation.

And the monetary costs of adding NOTA to every ballot paper would be as near zero as makes no difference for electoral purposes, so what's not to like?

(11 minutes)

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More at -

None of the Above UK

The Ability to Formally Withhold Consent at elections (Download)