IT MIGHT MAKE BALLOTS BETTER TO ADD ``NONE OF THE ABOVE''

Published: Tuesday, November 2, 1999
Section: LOCAL , page B3
Type of story: PUBLIC LIFE
Source: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER

© 1999 Landmark Communications Inc.

Election Day 1999

Thomas Hutchings, 67, will vote again today, just as he's done every election since he turned 21, except during an Army stint in Korea.

But too often, he doesn't see much choice on the ballots, says Hutchings, a former farmer, retired civil-service employee and now part-time school bus driver who lives in Virginia Beach.

``Either there ain't no difference between the candidates or no one else is running,'' he fumed.

Recently, Hutchings began seeking ways to do his civic duty while also voting his conscience.

He wants a ballot with ``none of the above'' as an official choice. And if ``none'' wins, he says, then the election should be held over with all new candidates.

Sure, Hutchings has the right to scrawl ``none of the above'' into the tiny write-in space on ballots. ``But I don't think that would accomplish anything,'' he said.

And another option - not voting at all - often is seen as apathy or approval of the status quo.

Hutchings wants more than a protest vote. He wants an effective way to make candidates and political parties more responsive to citizens.

There's a national organization, People for None of the Above, or NOTA, that is seeking more people like Hutchings.

William H. White, 54, co-founded the nonpartisan People for NOTA to help grass-roots groups across the country push for ``none of the above'' laws in their home states.

Only Nevada has NOTA on the ballot now, but the results are not binding.

White prefers binding NOTAs, which means automatic new elections, within 60 to 90 days, with all new candidates if ``none'' wins. ``None'' would be offered as a choice in only a limited number of new elections.

White terms NOTA laws as ``voter consent laws'' because, he says, ``legitimate consent requires the ability to withhold consent.''

But White is most fond of comparing NOTA balloting to the hiring of job applicants.

Responsible business owners reject all job applicants until the right one comes along, said White, who runs a computer-systems company.

He also compares political parties to employment agencies. Agencies, he asserts, should send the best, most qualified job candidates to people doing the hiring.

Michael E. Rau, 40, of Virginia Beach believes in the ``none of the above'' idea, saying such competition would generate better candidates.

``None of the above,'' he said, would help increase voter turnout while decreasing the influence of big money in politics.

Imagine, he chuckled, if two rivals in a General Assembly election spend $500,000 each but lose to ``none of the above.''

``How likely will it be that they spend that sort of money again?'' added Rau, who has been a volunteer or paid consultant in many area campaigns, including Ross Perot's Reform Party presidential campaign in 1992. Rau, also a former WTAR radio talk-show host, now is communications director of Virginians Against Handgun Violence.

Supporters of ``none of the above'' seem to span the political spectrum, from pro-consumer activist Ralph Nader to the pro-business Wall Street Journal.

The NOTA organization concedes potential flaws in the idea. A local critic, Susan Goranson, president of the League of Women Voters, warns that the effort ``could backfire'' and produce candidates who are even greater masters of ``pandering to voters.''

``We don't know all the effects,'' White said. ``But heaven knows, there are times when ``none of the above'' is more acceptable, and voters should be able to say `No!' ''