Allan wrote: > Hear Hear Roger! > > What a good idea! I am sure that a box "None of the Others" would indeed > invoke a MUCH larger turnout. > > I recon that 90% of the public do the same as you! Me included!
I don't claim that the idea is mine Allan, it has been proposed for some time, but never taken up of course because it would not suit our politicians/masters (you choose the most suitable word ;-))) My concern is that there is no way of registering any protest/objection to what is going on except by:- 1. Not voting (called voter apathy by politicians who don't understand that their policies, broken promises and spin have alienated voters to the point where they can't be bothered any more because nothing will change) 2. Voting for someone you don't want in order to spite the people against whom you are objecting (this has long been the method that many voters who bother to turn out have used but doesn't bode well in the long run for democracy) 3. Voting for a party whose manifesto contains some promises that you would like to see but also contains other promises that you wouldn't. You therefore have to make a decision to ignore the parts of their manifesto that you don't like in order to demonstrate support for the parts you do support. (perhaps illustrated by the success of the BNP in the recent Euro elections) If there was a "None of the above" box it would allow protest and show real democracy without some of the negative aspects of the existing methods. If we ever have the Australian system of compulsory voting then a "None of the above box" should definitely be there IMO. Roger
