‘None of the above’ is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations. It is designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of the candidates in a voting system. India, Indonesia, Greece, the U.S. state of Nevada, Ukraine, Belarus, Spain, North Korea and Colombia have such an option on their ballots.
About None of the above in brief
‘None of the above’ is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations. It is designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of the candidates in a voting system. India, Indonesia, Greece, the U.S. state of Nevada, Ukraine, Belarus, Spain, North Korea and Colombia have such an option on their ballots. NotA can increase voter turn out, allowing citizens to vote for an option that goes against both individuals running a presidential race, instead of not putting in a vote at all. The disadvantages of NOTA are that people can be influenced by other citizens for voting for the NOTA option without understanding the platforms of each running candidate. NOTA can be easily manipulated by political partiesindividuals who want one party over another, which would create chaos during elections and uncertainty in their aftermath. In the 1990 elections that led to the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Soviet version of \”none of above\” led to new elections with new candidates in 200 races of the 1,500-seat Congress of People’s Deputies. Since 1999, several political parties have arisen in order to make visible the ‘none of theabove’ option in the parliaments and force empty seats. The blank ballots only increase the amount of valid votes, raising the threshold of votes which every political party has to overcome to be fully considered. In May 2011, citizens of the villages of Girlla and Foixà were able to reduce the number of politicians in their councils by one and two respectively in their local elections.
Blank Seats, supported by the party Enadanos Blanco, aims to give the party representing empty seats as votes for any other party, meaning the party can disband. The party is entitled to receive money from the public funding scheme for politics and is not entitled to any public money from its candidates. In 2011, 15,582 votes were cast in Ciudadanos, with 15,581 votes at Ciudad de Barcelona, including 15,616 votes for Ciudados Enudos. In 2013, the blank ballot is recognized as ‘none-of-the-above’ but has very little chance to influence the distribution of seats within a democratic election. The parties over the threshold get their seats according to the D’Hondt method. The blank ballot has very few chance of changing the outcome of an election, and is mostly considered as a statistical indicator of candidatures’ disapproval. It allows individuals to have the freedom to choose none of the running candidates and express that the individual isn’t good enough to govern them. It is the basic human right of freedom of expression when not in favor of a candidate. Increase in NotA option showcases the dissatisfaction of a Candidate. NotA is based on the principle that consent requires the ability to withhold consent in an election. Pakistan introduced this option on ballot papers for the 2013 Pakistan elections, but the Election Commission of Pakistan later rejected it. Bangladesh introduced this option in 2008.
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This page is based on the article None of the above published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 09, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
