e-petition

Link

The petition was created by Ann Litchfield and reads:
'We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Create a "None of the above" option on all ballot papers.'

Ends 16.10.08

Dialogue between Graeme Walker and Adam Thomas

AT

Great with work with ballot-spoiling. To me this comes second only to a call for PR within British democracy. First past the post ensures that the majority is never represented. I agree entirely with your sentiments, although I'd add that I think making those in power more accountable is perhaps a more pressing concern. A 'NO' vote is against the system - true - but unelectable. Someone will still be in power and make decisions that affect people. PR would ensure an opposition in power, potentially a green or independant. New Zealand's politics are really worth looking at. Theirs is a system that really seems to work...

GW

The thing about the "No" vote, as with any counted ballot, is the fact that it is counted. I agree that it is important to make politicians more accountable, but I'm seeking (for myself), a more general reform of the entire system. I'm not necessarily trying to cadge people into voting "No", but I want to provide information about ballot spoiling, so they can be completely informed about all the possible options they have and the implications involved in all their desicions. While your suggestion of Governmental PR is excellent, I think it is the kind of thing that could be a product of a government-wide reform brought about by a majority "No" vote. It is a question of scale and perhaps, time. I don't think they are not mutually exclusive, but perhaps are the product of the same need. I can see how one could easily lead to the other.

Female, 20's, London, UK

I voted for the first time this year - the London mayor electoral, because I live here now. I'm 25 years of age and I never voted before because I have either been a) too apathetic, b) away from the UK or c) felt too confused about who or why I should vote. I decided to do it this year because I felt like taking responsibility somehow and not just moan when I think things aren't right. Though I was dubious to what effect I have on anything if any, I thought this reason was too sceptical and negative , so I preferred to have at least tried.

So what I decided was to try and check things out properly.

To be honest the whole affair was a bit daunting and ominous. I didn't know where to start, I didn't even know who was standing for mayor. Good or bad I just don't read the news or follow these things, to the point where I have received severe tutting for being so oblivious from the most tolerant of folks. Anyways I decided to dedicate some time to reading up and researching the elections and make a definitive decision. This process was a lot quicker than I had expected, just reading the promotion package for the elections I knew instantly what I felt and the more I probed into it the more things seemed to just support my gut reaction. There just seemed like no one appropriate, I felt strongly against most of the policies. The closest one I even felt slightly akin to was the Green Party but I didn't like their paranoid 'safety' beliefs, which to be fair was mentioned in every other campaign. But it was the swishy swashyness of it all, and the fact that if I voted them they will definitely not win anyway because they never do and that it's always between the Tories, Labour and maybe the Liberals. (I also didn't think of clever voting techniques for e.g. of how to use your 2nd vote as the counting one). Anyways it just occurred to me at the end that I had no 'choice'. Like it or lump it, vote or not vote, either way this is what I get. I was more distressed at this actuality more than anything, so I very clearly spoilt my ballot - neatly scrunching up and putting a large black cross on the paper. And this seemed the best action at least to fulfil an 'attempt' to do something. I am even more glad to learn that I was not alone and that there are many thousands who share my view so maybe my cause of action isn't so lost.

Male, Late 50's, Oxon., UK

I can think of two occasions on which I have deliberately spoiled a ballot paper.

1 - A European parliament election, probably some time in the 1990s. I annotated the paper with a comment along the lines of "We do not need an additional layer of bureaucracy in government".

2 - local election for the town council, 2008. There was a choice of 15 candidates for 12 positions on the council, but only five of the prospective councillors had distributed any information about themselves. In consequence, I had no idea what the majority of the candidates stood for. I therefore annotated the paper with the comment "As I do not know what most of these people stand for, I cannot make a valid choice". It transpired afterwards that a company had been hired to distribute election materials throughout the town, but had failed to do so.

There may have been other occasions in the past, but I cannot recall any specific details.

Spoiled Ballot Archive

Readers are encouraged to submit their personal "No Vote" stories for an ongoing archive, which will be published anonymously. Please include as much information as possible, for example, which election and the details of how your ballot was spoiled etc. and email it to info[at]spoilyourballot.co.uk

Conversation between myself (GW) and Olivier Durand (vote-blanc.org, FR)

OD

Hello, We have recently found your interesting and challenging website. Thank you for the information about London mayoral election provided there. There was an enigmatic point we would ask you pouring some light: why do you defend the ‘spoiled ballot’, and not the blank ballot ? In France http://vote-blanc.org, we are also interested by the link existing between the arts and the blank ballot. We define the ‘blank ballot’ as a carte blanche that voters address to the political class as a whole. Awareness about the fact that similar issues are raised in other countries, we have founded a European Collective http://cevb.org. We would like to know whether your preoccupations with elections and ballots are due to a momentous interest, or you envisage to act in this sense in the long run. Thank you for your answer. Looking forward to having of your news, and launching a fruitful exchange, Olivier Durand


GW

Hello Olivier,

a spoiled ballot is of course not "spoiled" as in ruined, but is a ballot that has been, technically, defaced. In essence, there is little difference between that which is blank and that which is spoiled. However, my preoccupation as an artist is with, in part, finding a voice where it is previously unheard and facilitating space where other people can find their voice. A spoiled ballot is one where, rather than merely leaving the ballot blank, the voter has marked it and has thus made a statement in their own voice. Does that make sense? What I am fundamentally supporting is the democratic right of voters to vote for no system at all. Whether it is spoiled or blank is no different at that level, as it still constitutes a disagreement; a "no" vote. However, to state this on your ballot paper and therefore spoil it, is to state your position clearly. This to my mind is potentially a more empowered position, which may be idealistic, but as it is completely possible to spoil your ballot, I think it is not. What I can see the blank ballot as achieving is a silent and united disapproval; a faceless, yet energised force. The spoiled ballot is far more local, more subjective perhaps. Ultimately, to infer that they are any different in what they achieve would be to miss the point. They are both a "no" vote. That is what counts.

To spoil your ballot is achievable. I am opposed to voter apathy and simply want to say that to vote "no" is possible, that it gets counted and that therefore it has made a difference.

It is worth noting that I have just begun this project in England in the last month with the intention of working towards a local vote "no" campaign at the next general election. I think it is important to vote in an informed way and to know that any desicion you make counts. However, what I feel there is lacking in England is a vocal campaign that both voices concerns about the governmental system in general and points to a precise and easily accessible way informed parties can take action - by spoiling there ballot, or leaving it blank.

It is interesting that you have been looking at the links between the arts and the blank ballot. Here is some work I created for a catalogue several years ago. It was meant to be like an organ donor card, that you can keep in your wallet.
click here to view
Perhaps we can work together on extending this idea into reality somehow.

I am interested in your website and will add it to the spoilyourballot one. I'd welcome any dialogue you would care to offer on mine.

Best wishes,

Graeme


OD

Hello Graeme, Thank you for your answer. Actually, there is much to say and to do, by artists, around the white ballot. Here and there, people have launched artistic action in this direction. In Brazil, a nuance exists between the spoiled ballot (voto nulo) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-mrecTiqpM&NR=1 (short clip in English) - and blank ballot (voto em branco) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3ku-pzLGR0. (punk-rock). Already before 1988, John Cage responded to a question concerning Ronald Reagan in the following manner: "I don't vote. People once told me, years ago, that I should vote because the alternative was so awful and that it would be important to have a good president. I always hope that we can get another as bad as Ronald Reagan again. I think it would be better for us getting rid of government, to have a bad president rather than a seemingly good one. And after Ronald Reagan, if we don't get rid of the president seat, that we should have a worst president in order to we eventually will get rid of him."
In the domain of photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson was also a militant for the ‘blanc ballot’ (in France, vote blanc). In 1995, he had stated that: “For me, a photograph, a white ballot is to say, black on white, one’s own refusal to adhere to either of two imposed choices. It is necessary that voters have also the white ballot option as a choice; it is essential that these ballots are taken into account, and not amalgamated with the spoiled ballots. Where democracy goes on? I wish that one explains to me why, for what reason, the blanc ballot is not practicable.” [Un vote blanc, pour moi, en tant que photographe, c'est dire noir sur blanc le refus d'être coincé par des choix imposés. Il est indispensable que l'on mette à la disposition des électeurs des bulletins de vote blanc et essentiel que ces votes soient comptabilisés et non amalgamés aux votes nuls. Où en est-on avec la démocratie ? Je souhaite que l'on explique pour quelles raisons l'idée du vote blanc est impraticable.] Indeed, why not black-and-white photographs in which the white is not translated as a ‘hesitation’ but as an engagement, or an imaginative response?

Regards,

Olivier

London Mayoral Election Results 2008

41,032

Turnout and Technical Information

Areas counted	Votes
Electorate	5,419,913
Papers counted / turnout	2,456,990
Turnout	45.33%
Change in turnout from 2004
Good votes 1st choice 2nd choice	2,415,958 0
Rejected votes * 1st choice 2nd choice	41,032 0
Blank **(no votes cast)	13,034
No 2nd preference ***	0

• * "Rejected votes" refers to ballot papers where the vote has not been counted because the ballot paper has not been filled out correctly. This may be because the voter has marked more than one preference in one column, because the voter identified themselves on the ballot paper, if the voter’s intention is unclear or if the voter has spoiled his or her paper in any way.
• ** "Blank votes" refers to ballot papers where no 1st choice and no 2nd choice have been marked, and no vote has been counted. (This data is only available for 2008.)
• *** "No 2nd preference" refers to ballot papers where voters have only made 1st choice vote and no 2nd choice vote. The first choice vote has been counted. (This data is only available for 2008.)

info from http://results.londonelects.org.uk/Results/MayoralResult.aspx

If we look at the results of the recent mayoral election in London, we can see that if rejected votes were counted they would have come 5th place, above 5 other candidates. This proves that to spoil your ballot is a valid and neccessary political statement and that to not have these non-votes counted would be undemocratic. It would deny the voices, in this case, of 40,ooo people.

I normally try to refrain from being political with my work, which is of course a political statement in itself.

I've been thinking recently about the elections and democracy and the point of voting. When I vote it is a contribution to a dialogue that interrogates the current political system. This is a) why I spoil my ballot, rather than do nothing and b) why I feel that spoiling my ballot is valid.

Spoiled votes are counted. They are a statement in themselves and are an important part of a democratic political system. It is your right to state a position of no confidence; that none of the candidates are worthy of leadership and that the whole system requires fundamental reform.

Countries that do not provide the possibility of spoiling your ballot are not democratic - like the computerised ballots in America. This means that there is no control (as in scientific). That you do not have, as a voting member of a country that is supposed to be led by its people, the choice to not have the government operate in the way it does.

As with all advice for voters, I urge you to demand your right to spoil your ballot and have the confidence to carry it out if you feel it is what you want.

This is not an ideology.