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Letter campaign

We are urging people to write to the Chairman of the Electoral Commission to ask him to carry out trials for a "none of the above" box on ballot papers. The Commission's own research has shown that it would encourage up to 33% of non-voters to use their vote. We feel it is important that our democracy allows people to positively abstain where they feel there is not a wide enough choice of candidates or those on the ballot paper all appear to be unsuitable.

Read the letter and copy the text or download it as a Word file and sent by post, or by email to the Electoral Commission at . Please feel free to personalise the letter and add comments you would like the Commission to be aware of. Please add your contact details so Sam Younger can reply to you. We would be interested to know how the Commission responds to your letter.

New report (May 2006) suggests compulsory voting with "none of the above" as an option.

A Citizen's Duty Voter inequality and the case for compulsory turnout.

Read or download the report, it's a PDF file, from the Institute of Public Policy Research.

Government bans "none of the above" from being included in a political party's name.

See the legislation.

From the Telegraph 29th April 2005
Four years ago, 17 per cent of Gallup's respondents said that if their ballot paper gave them a chance to vote for "None of the above" they would seize the opportunity. That proportion has now risen by almost half to 24 per cent, making "None of the above" the third largest party.

Links now include similar campaigns around the world.

Positive action, by the community, to increase voter turnout, by increasing choice.

For the St Albans District council elections we have submitted nomination papers for paper candidates to stand in the following wards,

• Sopwell
• Verulam
• Ashley
• Sandridge

This will allow the slogan "No Candidate Deserves My Vote!" to appear on ballot papers.

Sopwell and Verulam make up St Albans South County Council seat, mentioned on page 40 of the Electoral Commission report on the 2001 election (see below). Both wards are part of the national online voting experiment.

Our small party intends to use the statistical information from the elections in the campaign for a "None of the above" box on UK ballot papers similar to that available in elections in Australia and Sweden. We believe a "None of the above" box would increase voter turnout and empower the electorate. Certainly a "None of the above" box would take away any excuse for not voting.

 

Electoral Commission Report, page 40 "Election 2001: The Official Results"

At the 7 June County Council elections in Hertfordshire, a party registered as No Candidate Deserves My Vote stood a handful of candidates, its best result being 2.5% of the vote (174 votes) in St Albans South. The party takes the view that offering the opportunity of positive abstention could assist in increasing voter turnout. The results of the MORI survey conducted for the commission after the election offer some support for this suggestion: 12% of those asked said that being able to vote for "None of the above candidates" would have made them more likely to vote, and the figure increases markedly to 33% for non-voters. However the evidence from international practice in this regard is inconclusive. The Commission does not believe that the case is yet made for the introduction of positive abstention within the UK electoral practice, but intends to undertake a more thorough examination of the issues involved.

Frequently asked questions

People can show they don't support any candidates by not voting.

With the present system there is no way of knowing why people are not voting. With our candidate on the ballot paper the results could be used by those that study elections (psephologists), as well as sending a message to the politicians.

They could spoil their ballot paper.

If 80% of an electorate did this, and the remainder voted for one of four candidates, the candidate with a minority of support would win. Our party would enable the majority to force a re election, rather than allow an unwanted candidate to be elected.

Proportional representation would solve this problem.

It may, but we have to wait for the government to introduce it. Our party allows the people to introduce change now, if they want to.

Compulsory voting would end voter apathy.

Maybe, but then it becomes more important that people have the freedom to express their opinion when voting, rather than have to pick the best of (what they may consider) a bad bunch.

What are the policies of the party?

Only that ballot papers should have a choice of "None of the above" at the bottom of the list of candidates, this would count as a "null" vote. Once this is done, the party will be disbanded.

But what are your views on Europe, healthcare, the economy?

We have none, we only seek the freedom of expression in the political process.

But you are listed as a political party.

We had to form a registered party, to have candidates across the UK representing the same ideal.

Fringe parties don't make a difference.

Don't they, it's how the Labour party started. We know we're a fringe, but for how long, we'll let the voters decide that.

If people don't agree with the political parties they should join them, and change them from within.

Yes that is possible, but would take a long time. We believe the people of this country are tired of waiting for change. By choosing to vote for us, they can send a more immediate message to the political parties.

You are not likely to win many seats.

We know, we're not doing this because we want to win. It's because we believe the people of this country deserve the opportunity to express themselves using the ballot box. Trust us, we are not politicians.

What happens if you do win a seat?

In the case of a parliamentary election our candidate will then resign, thus forcing a re election.

So who are the people in the party?

The voters of this country that are tired of the political merry-go-round.

How many candidates do you have?

Several for the council elections, but as a new party, no candidates for the general election. Our aim is to field a candidate in all 659 seats for the next general election, and as many as possible in council elections.

Who can stand as a candidate?

Anyone can stand for our party while they don't have an axe to grind. We refused to accept some candidates for the 2001 general election; they were representing their own views, or were intending to spite another candidate.

Links

Newsgroups See what's being talked about, or have your say.

 

uk.politics.announce

uk.politics.censorship

uk.politics.constitution

uk.politics.electoral

uk.politics.misc

uk.politics.parliament

uk.politics.philosophy

alt.politics.british

alt.politics.uk

alt.politics.england.misc

alt.politics.england.euro

 

Web sites (will open in a new window)

 

Voters for None of The Above Campaign group in the USA

None of The Above Campaign in Ireland

Vote None of The Above Committee Against Mediocrity in Politics, USA

None of The Above UK party.

 

UK Elections Directory General Election facts and figures.

Electoral Commission For the registration of political parties.

Factsheet of basic information if you wish to stand in a general election.

Electoral Reform Society Information on voting systems, and more.

Hansard Society

Please if there are other links that should be listed.

Candidates

We had no candidates standing in the 2001 general election, but we did have candidates in the local elections on June 7th 2001.

Hertfordshire County Council June 7th 2001
St. Albans South	Peter Robert Goodall
St. Albans East	Margaret Payne
St. Albans North	Paul Mann
St. Albans Central	Rosemary Iris Flanagan
St. Albans District Council June 7th 2001
Sopwell Ward	Peter Robert Goodall

St. Albans local elections 2002
Ward	Votes	% of vote	Turnout
Ashley	31	1.67%	38.05%
Sandridge	21	1.58%	36.98%
Sopwell	36	3.16%	23.27%
Verulam	29	1.51%	38.92%

Southfields ward, Ealing. Local council election May 2002
Turnout 32.8%
Name of candidate	Description	Number of votes
Bastin, Colin	The Labour Party candidate	823
Carter, Rex Edward John	The United Kingdom Independence Party candidate	90
Chadha, Philip Manpreet	The Labour Party candidate	668
Gibbs, Doreen Ethel	The Conservative Party candidate	669
Khan, Jamal Ali	The Conservative Party candidate	541
Kietz, Linda Jean	The Labour Party candidate	708
Malcolm, Gary	The Liberal Democrat Focus team candidate	1414
Meiklejohn, Christina Leith Violet	The Green Party candidate	342
Mitchell, Andrew Darby	The Liberal Democrat Focus team candidate	1490
Porter, Adam	No candidate deserves my vote	43
Rose, Harvey Burlingham	The Liberal Democrat Focus team candidate	1440
Young, Janet Elizabeth	The Conservative Party candidate	622

Our aim is to have 659 candidates for the next general election, and as many as possible in future local elections. Join us as a member or candidate, and together we can give the people of this country a stronger voice at the ballot box.

Contact details