Alberta’s Election Flaw:None of the Above
Statement of Principle: All legitimate consent requires the ability to withhold consent; therefore, the legitimate consent of voters requires they be able to withhold their consent in an election to office.
There is terrible weather in the city on election day; no one is showing up at the polling booths. Perhaps no one will come at all, and this will be the country’s first election with absolutely no votes cast. But the weather clears up, and people start voting even in the rain. Absence is not the problem. The problem is the votes themselves: 13 percent for the party on the right, 9 percent for the party in the middle and, 2.5 percent for the party on the left. The rest of the votes, more than 70 percent, are blank. The government, in consternation but still clinging to the constitution, has the mandatory second election the following week. This time 83 percent of the votes are blank. The people of the city have not abstained from voting, and they have not spoiled their ballots. They have not written in candidates. They have democratically objected to the particular form of democracy on offer.
Here’s a headline you may have missed:
“None Of The Above” Beats All Parties As “Most Likely To Keep Promises”
I’m calling for a boycott of this vote. A large number of voters are forced to vote against their better intuition and must select a candidate, when in fact, ‘none of the above’ would probably get more seats in this election than the NDP.
So, if a recent poll showed that most Albertans believe ‘none of the above’ will keep their election promises, is it possible for us to vote for ‘none of the above’?
Probably not.
I’m not too knowledgeable of the minutiae of Alberta’s election, but I do not think it is possible for us to check off “none of the above’ in a special box in our ballots. A search for the term on Elections Alberta turns up no results, and Alberta doesn’t seem to be among the regions of the world where this practice has allowed voters to express their discontent.
This is the Election of Broken Promises, because you know darn well that none of these political parties will keep every promise the CBC is tracking.
In principle, consent in the voting process involves the ability to withold consent, so why are we Albertans forced to vote for the lesser of several evils, thereby violating our consiences?
It illuminates a small detail many of us overlook: this is a forced election. It’s not forced in the sense that we are rounded up and taken to the polling booths where a guard observes our vote with some weapon at our backs. No.
It is a forced election because,in the absence of a viable outlet for voter discontent, the disenfranchised among us have three choices:
1. Stay home, and forego our democratic right to vote.
2. Cast a spoiled or blank ballot.
3. Hold our noses and vote for the ‘least worst’ candidate.
Sure, a blank ballot is a form of a vote of abstention, but it does not send the same message as ‘none of the above’.
Throughout this election campaign, we have been told of a sizable chunk of the electorate composed of disenfranchised PC voters who are likely to stay at home and not vote, because they cannot bring themselves to vote for Ed Stelmach, nor can they bring themselves to vote for any of the alternatives. Some folks will park their votes with the Wild Rose Alliance. But that’s just it. For a lack of a viable alternative, many people will be forced into voting for the status quo, while others, seeking an outlet for their protest, will park votes with the Liberals, Greens, or WRA. In this sense, we are forced to consent to a party we would otherwise not consent to.
A good chunk of voters are parking their votes against their consience due to a simple error of omission: the inability to cast a vote for ‘none of the above’. Under the current laws, such votes would probably be tallied as spoiled ballots, when, in fact, they are an expression of true voter intent.
I’ll be looking for ‘none of the above’ on my ballot. If it’s not there, I’m writing it in.
And I’d say it’s this lack of a ‘None of the Above’ option that breeds apathy and discontent in voters. Look at how you’re voting. If you’re voting for a party just because theire are no alternatives, or because you’re trying to park a protest vote, you might find yourself violating your consience.
Instead of doing that, try voting for ‘None of the Above’.
It’s simple. You don’t cast a blank ballot. You don’t spoil your ballot. Just write ‘None of the Above’ on your ballot. It’s the most overlooked option in this election.
Oh, as an aside, the Greens are the most likely to enact ‘none of the above’ legislation in this province. 
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03/03/2008 at 6:03 pm Permalink
in Alberta you are allowed to register and when being handed your ballot you tell the poll clerk or deputy returning officer that you are refusing it. Those refused ballots are a legitimate protest vote and are counted as such.