Canada PoliticsChoice to vote ‘none of the above’ in Ontario election gains momentum with NOTA party
The buzz surrounding the 'none of the above' option in the Ontario election seems to be growing.
A couple of weeks ago, Yahoo Canada News reported on a Democracy Watch initiative urging Elections Ontario — under threat of potential court action — to advertise the fact that voters could actually decline their ballot, essentially rendering their vote as 'none of the above'.
The story has generated a lot of response both on Yahoo and elsewhere.
[ Related: How Ontarians can vote when their choice is ‘none of the above’ ]
At the conclusion of Tuesday's leaders' debate, host Steve Paikin even referenced the null option:
"We do want to remind everybody, that election day is Thursday June the 12th," he said.
"And we encourage you, even if you decline your ballot, we encourage you to vote."
Interestingly, disgruntled voters in some ridings now have another option in addition to declining their ballots — they can actually vote for the "None of the Above" party.
The fledgling party's doctrine involves electing independent MPPs who are "not bound by party control and who truly can represent their constituents first."
Responsible Government + Referendum + Recall = Democracy
The "Three Rs of #DirectDemocracy - Responsible Government (Electoral and Parliamentary reform), Referendum and Recall.
We support citizen initiated referendum, recall and term limits which we believe are tools voters want to have to elect people who work for all of us and who would have to keep their promises or lose their jobs and pensions, instead of politicians who think of themselves, their leader, party or insiders.
The party's leader, Greg Vezina, says that this initiative is part of an international "movement."
"[It's] the worldwide none of the above movement. It's on the ballot in many states in the United States and in other countries," he told Yahoo Canada News. In India's general election last month, for example, the option to vote 'none of the above' was offered for the first time.
"We want the process open so that your voices can be hear and so that they can questions of people in power.
"We're based on the Wikipedia definitions of responsible government, referenda, recall and direct democracy."
Vezina says that in this election, they only have candidates in eight ridings: Mississauga Erindale, Mississauga Streetsville, Mississauga South, Mississauga Brampton South, Parkdale High Park, Scarborough Rouge River, Niagara Falls and Lambton Kent Middlesex.
But he's got bigger plans for the future.
"We're going to have a big nomination convention after [this] election and we're going to nominate candidates in 107 ridings for the next election in the next couple of months and we're going to pay them a salary of $1,000 a month to work full-time as politicians-in-waiting," he said.
"So we're going to use the political tax credit system for people to go raise money for the party, pay their salary so that we have candidates in the community knocking on doors for the next two to four years until the next election comes."
Vezina is no political neophyte. He's been around the block a few times, having been one of the founding candidates of the federal Green Party, worked with the likes of the Harris Tories and the McGuinty Liberals, and even publishing a book about democracy in Canada.
"I have a lifetime of working really hard to bring about real democratic changes and being fundamentally disappointed by these people when they get in power," he said.
"It turns out that 52 per cent voters in Ontario agree with me because they stay home."
Vezina predicts that, thanks to them, voter turnout in the next election will increase to 75 per cent.
What do you think?
Will the 'None of the Above' option — or the decline your ballot option — entice more Ontarians to vote?
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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