You Have the Power to Establish:

A National Standard
for
Withholding Consent in an Election to Office

By Writing-In "None of the Above"

    If you find yourself not voting for an office because no candidate is acceptable, then we ask you to write-in "None of the Above", rather than not voting or using some other write-in, because:

  • Writing-in "None of the Above" makes clear you are withholding your consent to this election to office because of unacceptable candidates instead of a lack of interest or information, etc.

  • Writing-in "None of the Above" helps establish a standard form of withholding consent, which is far more likely to be reported in election results than a scattering of write-in votes or not voting.

  • If substantial numbers of voters use this standard form of withholding consent and it is reported, this would likely increase awareness of the NOTA ballot option.

  • As more voters write-in "None of the Above", the pressure to enact Voter Consent laws establishing a NOTA ballot option should increase.

  • A substantial "None of the Above" vote in a race would help identify it as one in which voters might be more receptive to new candidates in a future election as well as reduce the political mandate of the elected candidate.

How do you Write-In "None of the Above"?

    When you vote, your ballot should allow you to write-in a name rather than voting for one of the listed candidates for each office. Often the write-in space is right on the ballot below the listed candidates for an office; sometimes you may have to request a write-in ballot. In either case, you can write-in "None of the Above" or its standard abbreviation "NOTA". Since we are hoping to establish these as a standard, you should write them exactly as the appear here.

What if you do not vote at all?

    If you do not vote at all because you feel most choices presented to you are unacceptable, then please vote by writing-in "None of the Above" to make that clear. If you are not registered to vote, then we urge you to register and then vote by writing-in "None of the Above", because your not voting is taken to mean you do not care or you consent to whatever other voters decide.

If you are counting or reporting votes

    Those counting votes and reporting vote counts are urged to report a single total for "None of the Above" and its standard abbreviation "NOTA".

Links:

http://www.noneoftheabove.info/ethos.htm [Exists solely to provide a political strategy for the politically "apathetic" to write-in "None of the Above". UK based.]

www.nota-pa.org Launches "None Of The Above" Write-In Vote Campaign In Pennsylvania

 

Copyright ©  Voters for None of the Above     All rights reserved.
e-Petition™, Voters for None of the Above™ , VNOTA™, √ NOTA™ and √ None of the Above™ are trademarks of Voters for None of the Above.
Revised: 12/13/06.