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And for those who complain about not having the right to abstain, you can get the same effect by turning up and spoiling your ballot paper. You can even make a

And for those who complain about not having the right to abstain, you can get the same effect by turning up and spoiling your ballot paper. You can even make a show of doing it so that everyone can see you're deliberately not casting a valid vote. That makes more of a point that staying home and being invisible.

andrew1 16y ago
It might be a similar effect but it's not the same effect. There's a definite difference between wanting to say that you are making the effort to take part in the electoral process but that you don't want to lend your support to any of the candidates; and for whatever reason not correctly filling out the ballot paper. If nothing else it makes for a much more interesting statistic, spoiled ballot papers tell you nothing about the intent of the voter, a 'none of the above' option would help with that.
joelhaasnoot 16y ago
This is actually legal in the Netherlands: just turn in a blank ballot.
- jozo 16y ago
  In Sweden you can vote for whatever you want. It's quite humorous to read the results of these votes after the election, when they are published online. Normally this would be used by new parties who can't afford distributing printed ballots. Being Sweden someone of course had the xkcd-inspired(?) idea to try XSS and SQL-injection. http://alicebobandmallory.com/articles/2010/09/23/did-little-bobby-tables-migrate-to-sweden http://alicebobandmallory.com/articles/2010/09/23/did-little...
Semiapies 16y ago
"You can even make a show of doing it" Why should I be forced to show up for your voting-day entertainment?
- MikeCapone 16y ago
  Good point, but of ALL the things we are forced to do in Western societies, compulsory voting would probably be pretty low on the list of things I'd want to see go away.
  - Semiapies 16y ago
    Thank you, but you respond with no point. You're saying that I should be forced to do something, or else fined or possibly even put in jail for not doing so...but you don't even justify why you're willing to do that to me. If you support my right to write-in Mickey Mouse or select "None of the Above" or void my vote, then you're saying nothing more than that you like people being punished for not filling out what you acknowledge to be meaningless paperwork. (Also, last I checked, there's more than one "Western society" that doesn't have compulsory voting.)

andrew1 16y ago

It might be a similar effect but it's not the same effect. There's a definite difference between wanting to say that you are making the effort to take part in the electoral process but that you don't want to lend your support to any of the candidates; and for whatever reason not correctly filling out the ballot paper. If nothing else it makes for a much more interesting statistic, spoiled ballot papers tell you nothing about the intent of the voter, a 'none of the above' option would help with that.

joelhaasnoot 16y ago

This is actually legal in the Netherlands: just turn in a blank ballot.

jozo 16y ago
In Sweden you can vote for whatever you want. It's quite humorous to read the results of these votes after the election, when they are published online. Normally this would be used by new parties who can't afford distributing printed ballots. Being Sweden someone of course had the xkcd-inspired(?) idea to try XSS and SQL-injection. http://alicebobandmallory.com/articles/2010/09/23/did-little-bobby-tables-migrate-to-sweden http://alicebobandmallory.com/articles/2010/09/23/did-little...

Semiapies 16y ago

"You can even make a show of doing it" Why should I be forced to show up for your voting-day entertainment?

MikeCapone 16y ago
Good point, but of ALL the things we are forced to do in Western societies, compulsory voting would probably be pretty low on the list of things I'd want to see go away.
- Semiapies 16y ago
  Thank you, but you respond with no point. You're saying that I should be forced to do something, or else fined or possibly even put in jail for not doing so...but you don't even justify why you're willing to do that to me. If you support my right to write-in Mickey Mouse or select "None of the Above" or void my vote, then you're saying nothing more than that you like people being punished for not filling out what you acknowledge to be meaningless paperwork. (Also, last I checked, there's more than one "Western society" that doesn't have compulsory voting.)