None of the above

None of the Above (NOTA) is a ballot choice in some jurisdictions or organizations, placed so as to allow the voter to indicate his disapproval with all of the candidates in any voting system.

Entities that include "None of the Above" on ballots as standard procedure include the United States Libertarian Party, the Green Party, Nevada ("None of these candidates"), Ukraine ("Against all"), and Spain (votos en blanco). Russia had such an option on its ballots ("Against all") until it was abolished in 2006.^[1]

When "None of the Above" is listed on a ballot, there is the theoretical possibility of NOTA receiving a majority of the vote cast. In such a case, a variety of formal procedures may be invoked, including having the office remain vacant, having the office filled by appointment, re-opening nominations or beginning the election process again (in a body operating under parliamentary procedure). In Nevada, the actual candidate with the greatest number of votes assumes office regardless of how many votes "None of the Above" gets. Thus "None of the Above" acts purely as a repository for protest votes.

The Green Party of California included NOTA in its original 1991 bylaws, to offer voters a choice of rejecting all candidates presented. After one round of successful elections in which a candidate in Southern California and all gubernatorial candidates were retired after the primary by NOTA, a lawsuit promulgated by the California Secretary of State led to the disallowal of NOTA in Green Party primaries.

Ralph Nader ran as a NOTA candidate and supports the NOTA option as a method of voters to withhold consent and to initiate a new round of elections.

In elections where "None of the Above" is not an option, a ballot is usually regarded as spoilt if a voter decides to cross the entire ballot paper, or leave it blank.

Re-open Nominations (RON)

Many students' unions in the United Kingdom (including the National Union of Students) use a very similar ballot option called re-open nominations (RON) in instant runoff voting (alternative vote) and single transferable vote elections. The key difference is that RON is an active vote against all candidates in FPTP and all subsequent candidates in an STV election.

There are several ways of dealing with a RON candidate. In a single member constituancy or election to a single position RON is treated as a normal candidate. If re-open nominations is deemed elected to any position then at the end of the count that position is declared vacant and nominations must later be re-opened for that position.

In a multi-member constituancy either when a RON candidate is elected, all other candidates below RON are declaired not to be elected and the counting process stops, the election is then re-ran for that and all other unfilled positions. Or in the other case, RON is elected to a position, then any surplus is tranfered to another RON(2) candidate as if such an option had been presented on the ballot paper. If RON(2) is elected, then the process carries on with RON(3), RON(4) candidates and so on until all seats are filled.[2].

"None of the Above" candidate

David Gatchell of Tennessee ran for governor in 2002 and for Senate in 2006 as a protest, officially changing his middle name from "Leroy" to "None of the Above." [3] In 2006, he got 3,738 votes and 0.2 per cent of the total vote.

See also

• British None Of The Above Party

External links

• Voters for None of the Above
• None Of The Above - Tennessee
• Green Party of California v. Jones (1995) [registration required]