Voting NOTA for General Elections

[Slartibartfast]

Saw a lot of posts making mention of this so I decided to bring the discussion to a single thread and open a poll just for fun.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the concept, voting NOTA means voting "None Of The Above" and means the same thing as posting a blank ballot for voting choice at elections. This lets the person checking ballots know that you do not think that any of the choices put forward are acceptable to you. There are some countries that already have a NOTA box included in the ballot and special provisions if the NOTA option gets most votes.

So far I have heard the following opinions when mentioning this idea as shown in the polls.

[Slartibartfast]

More info here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoilt_vote#Intentional_spoiling

http://www.votenone.org.uk/protest_votes_count.html

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

is this option legal in T&T?

It is very important to exercise your right to vote!!

[megadoc1]

yeah I think this is crap ...if yuh don't want to vote why should that be anybody's business ?
the person counting ballots will throw away anything that deviates from the norm so you will just have your ballot voided by someone who took a day job to count ballots and your message reaches no one past them lol

If you are forced to show up on election day this might make sense lol

[Hyperion]

the problem is that it will just be counted as a spoilt ballot. Nobody will actually take count of the number of NOTA ballots and the effort will have been wasted.

[Habit7]

NOTA only have a set of political has beens and the leader does beat his wife.

[UML]

I dont know if you trying to mislead the others or the stupid.


but i can tell you one thing for sure



THE PNM NOT DOING DAT!!!!

[Slartibartfast]

is this option legal in T&T?

It is very important to exercise your right to vote!!

Even if it isn't (defacing government property or something) how will they catch you to prosecute you?

[Slartibartfast]

yeah I think this is crap ...if yuh don't want to vote why should that be anybody's business ?
the person counting ballots will throw away anything that deviates from the norm so you will just have your ballot voided by someone who took a day job to count ballots and your message reaches no one past them lol

If you are forced to show up on election day this might make sense lol

the problem is that it will just be counted as a spoilt ballot. Nobody will actually take count of the number of NOTA ballots and the effort will have been wasted.

You are getting the wrong idea Megadoc. I absolutely do want to vote but I am being forced to choose between two parties that have proven themselves inadequate. Am I to vote for an inadequate party or stay quiet and be blamed for the inadequate party that has been voted in.

I agree it most likely won't pass the people counting ballots for a day wuk but it must start somewhere. I think if a large enough amount of people do it (like the portion of people in Trinidad that fed up with corruption) it may start to get some attention. Or maybe I'm being too optimistic.

[Redman]

is this option legal in T&T?

It is very important to exercise your right to vote!!

Even if it isn't (defacing government property or something) how will they catch you to prosecute you?

Same way they mistakenly think yuh vote for the fools in power.

[megadoc1]

yeah I think this is crap ...if yuh don't want to vote why should that be anybody's business ?
the person counting ballots will throw away anything that deviates from the norm so you will just have your ballot voided by someone who took a day job to count ballots and your message reaches no one past them lol

If you are forced to show up on election day this might make sense lol

the problem is that it will just be counted as a spoilt ballot. Nobody will actually take count of the number of NOTA ballots and the effort will have been wasted.

You are getting the wrong idea Megadoc. I absolutely do want to vote but I am being forced to choose between two parties that have proven themselves inadequate. Am I to vote for an inadequate party or stay quiet and be blamed for the inadequate party that has been voted in.

I agree it most likely won't pass the people counting ballots for a day wuk but it must start somewhere. I think if a large enough amount of people do it (like the portion of people in Trinidad that fed up with corruption) it may start to get some attention. Or maybe I'm being too optimistic.

why wait so late ? best you select a representative from amongst the large group that's fed up with corruption and vote for that person ,is only $5000 to enter

[Slartibartfast]

1. My option is $5000 cheaper
2. Admitting there is a problem is the first step to finding a cure. Your approach is backwards in that it proposes to present a solution to a problem that most people don't seem to seriously consider as yet.

Not a good immediate option but may be viable if things ever developed.

[UML]

is this option legal in T&T?

It is very important to exercise your right to vote!!

Even if it isn't (defacing government property or something) how will they catch you to prosecute you?

this shows how little you know about the election process

yeah I think this is crap ...if yuh don't want to vote why should that be anybody's business ?
the person counting ballots will throw away anything that deviates from the norm so you will just have your ballot voided by someone who took a day job to count ballots and your message reaches no one past them lol

If you are forced to show up on election day this might make sense lol

the problem is that it will just be counted as a spoilt ballot. Nobody will actually take count of the number of NOTA ballots and the effort will have been wasted.

You are getting the wrong idea Megadoc. I absolutely do want to vote but I am being forced to choose between two parties that have proven themselves inadequate. Am I to vote for an inadequate party or stay quiet and be blamed for the inadequate party that has been voted in.

I agree it most likely won't pass the people counting ballots for a day wuk but it must start somewhere. I think if a large enough amount of people do it (like the portion of people in Trinidad that fed up with corruption) it may start to get some attention. Or maybe I'm being too optimistic.

as i said before...who u trying to fool?


everybody here know u voting PNM.


yuh want evidence....check yuh posts!!!




I dont understand this failed attempt at misleading ppl

[Slartibartfast]

Why not enlighten me and any other readers that may not be as familiar with the voting process as you are.
[Serious]

EDIT: Now see you said I voting PNM. LMAO!!!
This may seem like a foreign concept to you but I am loyal to no party. I also don't pay as much attention to politics as I should until closer to elections because my life is busy enough as it is. Last election I just remember voting against PNM because they were doing loads of crap (can't recall what to be honest) and voted PP just to get them out. Now I see PP doing crap and not feeling to run back to what I initially ran away from. I agree that both parties have done good things, However both have not performed well enough in my books.

[UML]

yuh ever vote?


I spoke about this already check my posts


in short, who you vote for can be known.


My handlers and head blogger didnt tell me I could provide an answer

[Slartibartfast]

Yes I have voted before.

How can who you vote for be known? (I'm not going to search through your 5500+ posts so please reply here or quote your previous post if possible)

[megadoc1]

1. My option is $5000 cheaper
2. Admitting there is a problem is the first step to finding a cure. Your approach is backwards in that it proposes to present a solution to a problem that most people don't seem to seriously consider as yet.

Not a good immediate option but may be viable if things ever developed.

c'mon, to gather a group large enough to get your message across needs to have a figure of 5000 people minimum , so lets say you get 10,000 'fools' to agree with you, that's 50 cents per person to get you going in a more positive direction ...how can you say then that my approach is backward?

[Slartibartfast]

Don't care for starting another political party. Want to get existing parties to present better candidates.

Btw, UML still interested in your answer

[megadoc1]

well unfortunately,you may have to join one of the parties you don't like and get in a position where you can have a say or you can even start at the grass root level ,with at least 12,000 registered folks backing you, you can manners those who seeks representation for your constituency

[zoom rader]

It's always the ppl that dont vote complain the most and want everything free from which ever government in place

[Redman]

Well lets just do what other countries do-use the vote to gather more information.

Instead of spending $XX million to gather the numbers on who we want to run the country -add more questions to be able to tabulate sentiment...

So establish compulsory voting...to ensure as much of the population is represented as possible..

Maybe an online voting platform-(why not?)
maybe a referendum platform

But add qualitative questions to the ballot...

So add a NOTA option that will only be for statistical analysis-that will give feedback.
So SlartiB could vote for the PNM and feel good but also register his opinion in more detail.

If we have 10 questions we will be able to gather exponentially more relevant information,that will send messages about how the population feels

We are a maturing democracy.
IMHO we need to deepen ACTIVE PARTICIPATION...not display disgruntled apathy.

[Slartibartfast]

PNM for Life! Yeah redman that's a really cool idea. The online voting could even be used as a preliminary voting system. I wouldn't trust it for actual elections as I am sure someone would get the brilliant idea to exploit the code to get extra votes.

well unfortunately,you may have to join one of the parties you don't like and get in a position where you can have a say or you can even start at the grass root level ,with at least 12,000 registered folks backing you, you can manners those who seeks representation for your constituency

Yeah this seems like the option that would get the quickest results. PP for Life! The only problem is that you risk eventually ending like UML or Zoom Radar... ILP for life!

[megadoc1]

PNM for Life! Yeah redman that's a really cool idea. The online voting could even be used as a preliminary voting system. I wouldn't trust it for actual elections as I am sure someone would get the brilliant idea to exploit the code to get extra votes.

well unfortunately,you may have to join one of the parties you don't like and get in a position where you can have a say or you can even start at the grass root level ,with at least 12,000 registered folks backing you, you can manners those who seeks representation for your constituency

Yeah this seems like the option that would get the quickest results. PP for Life! The only problem is that you risk eventually ending like UML or Zoom Radar... ILP for life!

perhaps,but you could also end up with NOTAs for life and thats no way forward

[K74T]

Always remember to put your X by the Balisier

Sent from my GT-I8190L using Tapatalk

[Slartibartfast]

perhaps,but you could also end up with NOTAs for life and thats no way forward

That's a good point.

[megadoc1]

Always remember to put your X by the Balisier

Sent from my GT-I8190L using Tapatalk

even Panday said that lol

[Redman]

So maybe for the ballot to be valid you will have to VOTE for a party...alongside indicating your NOTA 'vote'

We can register our dissatisfaction while still voting....it cant just be a binary choice of a or b.
Currently thats the total input of a citizen ...once every 5 years

We can say I vote for A but Im generally dissatisfied with the level of performance of all the parties..
This can deliver an EBC report that could say..

what % of the population
Supports A or B or C
IS satisfied with the performance of a,b or c,
Is satisfied with the performance of the opposition or govt.

Will support party A but not support XYZ project that is on the table.

Australia enjoys 90% voter participation.

We are at 70% on average.

But here is my speculation.

If we were to get to 90% the voters here are more likely to be the swing voter-who like Slarti unaligned...but having thought about it will make a choice.

That means that now the till ah dead vote is now matched by the unaligned vote.

And having a higher proportion of THOUGHTFUL voting can only be a good thing

[Dizzy28]

There is not an option to vote NOTA in Trinidad and Tobago, You either vote for one of the parties on the ballot or you deface the ballot or leave it blank in which case it counts as spoilt ballot. Therefore I think this poll is a waste because you asking people for their opinion on something that doesn't yet exist.

[RBphoto]

I like this!!! Never heard of it before though. Might actually get me in a voting station if this is an option or if they count blank ballots. I do not believe that you should exercise the "right to vote" if you don't want either party/ candidate and you should only endorse someone whose politics/ policies you agree with. Currently there are no parties willing to grant LGBT rights, reduce taxes, remove duty from camera equipment, admit that Kublalsingh eating normal or legalize the herb.

Jah curse on Babylon system!!

[ruffneck_12]

This poll should have a NOTA option as well