“None of the Above” Should be a Choice on the Ballot

Discussion in 'Politics' started by OldDude49, Apr 6, 2016.


  1. OldDude49

    OldDude49 Just n old guy

    Former Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) is well-known for his many years of firm ideological consistency and his commitment to his beliefs. However, this rigidness has caused him some consternation in recent days as many in the media wrongly assume that his outspoken criticism of Donald Trump must mean that he will be supporting Hillary Clinton. Earlier this week Paul roundly rejected the idea that he could ever support Clinton for the Presidency.

    As he explained to CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield he believes that voting for the “lesser of two evils” is still evil and therefore something he is unwilling to do. Paul then argued that he believes voters should have the choice to vote “none of the above” on their presidential ballots as a way to register their disdain with the available candidates.

    Ashleigh Banfield: So I’ve got to ask you, as a red lettered American, who probably cherishes the right to vote. Who would you vote for if you think they’ll both the same?

    Ron Paul: Well what I would like to have on all the ballots is none of the above. And then we can vote for none of the above.

    Ashleigh Banfield: That wasn’t my question though.

    Ron Paul: But I’m not going to vote for one of those two for sure, you know, they’re too close together. And there’s the dreamers, even there’s, you know, the independent type Republicans that were on my side, someone said, “Yeah, but he’s better. But, you know, this whole idea of the lesser two evils, there’s something OK about it. I don’t think so, I don’t see how anything could be improved, because I think once the person is in office.


    I mean Obama ran as a true progressive. But he became much more a militant. He liked the war in Afghanistan. He supported the overthrow of the Ukraine and he’s sending troops back to Iraq. And I don’t even think he fundamentally believes that to tell you the truth. So he – I think the events, even regardless of who wins, will there be enough pressure to do exactly what we have been doing.

    They’re not going to have the fear to deny them some power to take negative interest rates and all this which needs to be done.

    Ashleigh Banfield: OK, I may have lost you on my — your piece for a short moment. But I’m not sure I got the answer though, if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, would you vote for him?

    Ron Paul: No, no, I mean, I was very explicit about that, I won’t vote for Donald Trump.



    Ashleigh Banfield: Would you just not vote then or would you vote for the Democratic ticket?

    Ron Paul: No, I had mentioned that we should have none of the above, and then you should pick another candidate, you know, if you can’t stand any of them and you happen to be a dedicated progressive, you ought to make your vote count and vote for the green party and if happen to be a libertarian, vote for the libertarian party.

    But to vote for the lesser two evils, I don’t think make it possible, and I know I get a lot of (inaudible) oh, no, from the Republicans, Conservatives I think they would absolutely Trump is so far superior. But quite frankly I’m not sure exactly what he’ll do and that bothers me as well because he does — he can give two positions in one speech, I don’t know if you noticed that or not.


    Ron Paul says “None of the Above” Should be a Choice on the Ballot - Eagle Rising



    just my opinion but I agree none of the above should be on the ballot....

    AND if that selection wins they have to come up with NEW candidates and run the election AGAIN!

    May make em think a little more about who the choose in the first place.........
     
    Witch Doctor 01 and Pax Mentis like this.
  2. chimo

    chimo the few, the proud, the jarhead monkey crowd

    Yep...NONE OF THE ABOVE should be a ballot choice. In some states it is, in others you can write it in, but I think it should be a ballot choice for every single race or issue on the ballot, so the number of voters who are not satisfied with the poor choices they are given can be quantified. One can spin why one doesn't vote at all in a million different ways...kinda hard to spin an actual vote for NONE OF THE ABOVE into something it isn't.

    Imagine the impact of an election result of:

    Clinton: 26%
    Trump: 24%
    third party X : 2%
    None of the above: 48%
     
    Motomom34 likes this.
  3. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    @chimo if we are going to play imagination- what happens if 48% voted none of the above? Do we keep what we have now until we find one that people can get behind?
     
    Ganado likes this.
  4. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    @Motomom34 a good question and I think instead of None of the above it could read, 'dissolve government ' but since we are doing electronic voting it doesn't matter anyway. They can change the votes so easily with electronic voting that we aren't really voting.

    Go look at the congressional hearings on electronic voting. That will really get you going.
     
    Motomom34 likes this.
  5. OldDude49

    OldDude49 Just n old guy

    NOPE....... if no one is elected by the time limit... the office remains vacant until filled
     
    Motomom34 likes this.
  6. chimo

    chimo the few, the proud, the jarhead monkey crowd

    That depends on the specifics of the implementation. Most likely the actual candidate with the most votes is still elected or entitled to the electors in the case of President. It would probably be dangerous to require some kind of do-over, with the current incumbent or some appointee serving until such time as one actual candidate pulled some kind of majority...an incumbent could possibly manipulate the system to remain in office indefinitely...in the example I noted, dontcha think Obama would work his widdle tail off to ensure NONE OF THE ABOVE continued to win the majority if it meant he could stay in office?

    No, I think the best we can hope for from NONE OF THE ABOVE is quantification of the dissatisfaction of the voters with the candidates they were presented...which could be useful in both passing legislation and stopping claims of a mandate by the actual human winners.
     
    Motomom34 likes this.
  7. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    :LOL: could you imagine the panic of the sheep with no leaders. I truly believe that people find security in having a President. Someone has to be in charge or chaos could rein. We have to have a leader, I think many couldn't function with the thought that someone wasn't looking out for them.
     
  8. TailorMadeHell

    TailorMadeHell Lurking Shadow Creature

    So Mickey Mouse is no longer running?
     
  9. chimo

    chimo the few, the proud, the jarhead monkey crowd

    Minnie revoked his male privilege and is running herself. She's asked me to be her running mate. Minnie Me 2016
     
    kellory, Legion489 and TailorMadeHell like this.
  10. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Sorry @TailorMadeHell neither Mickey Mouse or Rosanne Barr are running this time but John McAfee is. He always has something interesting to say. McAfee is representing the Cyber Party.


    John McAfee | 2016 Presidential Candidate
     
  11. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Tsk, tsk. Born in the UK. That'll raise a few questions. And the weapons charges, too.

    More interestingly, has he qualified to be placed on the ballot?
     
  12. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Born on an Army base doesn't matter because we have a Kenyan currently on the throne and a Canadian battling for a place on the R ballot. If you are talking about the weapons charge in Belize well that was in Belize or are you talking the TN issue? Mr McAfee obviously exercises his 2A.

    *** unsure if Cyber Party is a thing of the past but look at the picture in this article. The Libertarian's sure get along better then the other parties. Can Gary Johnson Spoil the Election? Sure, Yeah, Why the Hell Not?
     
    Mountainman likes this.
  13. Legion489

    Legion489 Rev. 2:19 Banned

    If they actually counted votes, Mickey Mouse would win a goodly amount of elections. I sometimes write NONE OF THE ABOVE too.
     
  14. Withak

    Withak Monkey

    I heard a discussion about something like this recently. Actually, in a situation where no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, it goes to the House of Representatives to choose the President. The Senate chooses the Vice President. So unless you're happy with legislators choosing the next President, it's probably a really bad idea for too many people to cast a 'none of the above' vote.

    What happens if no presidential candidate gets 270 Electoral votes?

    If no candidate receives a majority of Electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the President from the 3 Presidential candidates who received the most Electoral votes. Each state delegation has one vote. The Senate would elect the Vice President from the 2 Vice Presidential candidates with the most Electoral votes. Each Senator would cast one vote for Vice President. If the House of Representatives fails to elect a President by Inauguration Day, the Vice-President Elect serves as acting President until the deadlock is resolved in the House.

    Source: U. S. Electoral College: Frequently Asked Questions
     
  15. Pax Mentis

    Pax Mentis Philosopher King |RIP 11-4-2017

    I may just write in myself.
     
    Motomom34 likes this.
  16. Witch Doctor 01

    Witch Doctor 01 Mojo Maker

    upload_2016-4-6_17-38-16.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]


    To heck with MICKY Mouse... I want a southern conservative with a plan....
     
    Motomom34 likes this.
  17. chimo

    chimo the few, the proud, the jarhead monkey crowd

    Thing is, "None of the Above" may not be qualified to receive electoral votes at all, so despite NOTA getting a percentage of the vote, the electoral votes will only be distributed to the actual human candidates.
     
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7