Mountain Mail

In your story, (Some voters make statement by writing in candidates, Nov 14), you quote the county registrar, "people put a mark next to Write-in, and put down, say, Mickey Mouse, and it's counted by the computer as a write-in vote. But we don't pay attention to them."

It's understandable why write-in votes are ignored: Voters randomly select names as you report, which various jurisdictions report as "write-ins" or "scatterings."

However, their message is the same: "None of the above candidates on the ballot."

And if you add voters who left a race blank, or never voted at all, then you often have a majority of potential voters. That is a shame, because all those non-votes tell a tale worth telling.

Given widely expressed dissatisfaction with "lesser evil" and "one choice" elections as well as with increasingly negative campaigns, many voters wish to withhold their consent in elections to office by voting for "None of the Above" (NOTA), just as they can on ballot questions by voting NO.

It certainly makes sense: In a democracy, government must obtain the consent of the governed, and all legitimate consent requires the ability to withhold consent.

Any state can enact a Voter Consent law giving voters a binding NOTA ballot option after each candidate list, which calls a new election, with new candidates, to fill the office should NOTA win. A model Voter Consent law is available at www.nota.org/notabill.htm.

While NOTA by-elections are an expense, they would not occur unless voters vote to hold them, and are likely less costly than electing unacceptable candidates to office. Even candidates running unopposed would have to obtain voter consent to be elected.

NOTA based Voter Consent laws are a common sense, much needed improvement in governing ourselves, returning some power to "We the People," from whom our constitution draws its legitimacy, and taking some power from political parties and corporations, whom our constitution never mentions.

So instead of writing-in Mickey or whomever, I urge voters who do not vote for any candidate for an office, or do not vote at all, because of dissatisfaction with all candidates, to vote and write-in "None of the Above," as a clear way to withhold your consent as well as to call for enactment of a Voter Consent law.

If enough of us do that, as those embattled farmers who stood upon Concord Bridge, together fire shot heard far and ignored no more.

William H. White

Editor's Note: White is director of Voters for None of the Above, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to enacting voter consent laws in all 50 states.