The "None of the Above" Vote
- guildwoodian
- Jun 7, 2014
- 2 min read
Jack Henry
Are you Conservative, Liberal, NDP or other? In Ontario those are your choices, but what if you don't like any of those choices? What if you are a Conservative but Hudak just makes you angry and you don't want to vote for the Liberals because of all the scandals?
Well you can always stay home and not vote but that doesn't send a very good message because there is no difference between you and someone who is just to lazy to leave the house and vote. You could just spoil your ballot but then why even show up to the polling station, you're not accomplishing anymore than staying at home since the authorities don't know whether you spoiled the ballot on purpose.
There is a third option "None of the Above." Under Section 53 of the Ontario Elections Act, "An elector who has received a ballot and returns it to the deputy returning officer, declining to vote, forfeits the right to vote and the deputy returning officer shall immediately write the word 'declined' upon the back of the ballot... and (this) shall cause an entry to be made in the poll record that the elector declined to vote." Yes, you can actually vote for no party in a way that looks calculated and thoughtful, you just have to give your ballot back, without writing anything on it, as soon as you get it. In areas where there are candidates running you also have the option of voting for the “None of the Above (NOTA) Party” which has 8 candidates running this election which will really make your disdain heard!
Although this is a better option then not even going to the polling station, it is always better to vote for a candidate. I always like to say that "If you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the government."
Comments