Why Decline Your Ballot?
If you are upset with the voting system because you don't like any of the choices on the ballot, then you need to know how to Decline Your Ballot ... that is, cast a protest vote. The best way to do so ... that is, to vote for "none of the above" ... is to Decline Your Ballot. That's a recognized 'protest' vote according to Elections Canada and Elections Ontario.
If you don't cast your vote on Election Day, then you are considered apathetic and don't deserve to criticize the governing party because you didn't participate in the process. But if you are like many of us, you want to exercise your franchise but don't know how! If you put a big 'X' through your ballot, it is considered a destroyed ballot and is treated as if you didn't know what you were doing or you were angry. However, by "Declining Your Ballot," you can register a protest vote, in effect vote for "none of the above."
Why Register a Protest Vote?
1. Perhaps you are sick & tired of voting for politicians who, once elected, often change their tune (i.e. break their promises) to satisfy those special interests who have funded their election campaign. Remember the saying: "He who pays the piper calls the tune!"
2. If you are hoping for a democracy that we were promised in high school, that is ... "government of the people, for the people, and by the people," then you may be one of those who would rather see us (we, the people) govern ourselves by making all the important decisions, rather than leave it up to the politicians to do as they wish.
The way it stands right now is that the politicians' version of democracy is "government of the people, by the politicians, for special interest groups!" ... meaning multi-national corporations, the wealthy and the powerful. Under the current system "the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class get wiped out!"
3. Buckminster Fuller once said that in order to effect change we need to find an alternative, a better model to replace the antiquated broken model. In this case, we need to replace our current system (which you could call "mis-representative democracy"), with a new and better system called "direct" or "participatory democracy."
Since the politicians won't let us vote on any of the important issues right now (except in British Columbia where they have provincial direct democracy), we need to band together and force the politicians to give us that ability. (i.e. pass participatory or direct democracy legislation federally and provincially.) The best way to do that, is to register a protest vote against the current system! That's why we need to decline our ballots ... in big numbers ... so the politicians realize we mean business.
There is an alternative to the sham the politicians call democracy which really is a "demockery." It is called direct or participatory democracy, whereby we the people get to vote on all the issues that affect us ... just like they do in Switzerland.
Tell your family and friends to "decline your ballot" in the next election. Sooner or later there will be enough of us doing just that, to force the politicians into letting us vote on all the important issues. Otherwise we will continue to be led down the garden path.
How to Decline Your Ballot and vote for "none of the above"
If you want to vote at the next election but don't like any of the candidates then there's a way to vote for none of the above ... it's called "declining one's ballot."
That way your vote is counted as a protest vote and not a "destroyed ballot" which is a wasted vote.
When more of us choose to vote for "None of the Above" (i.e. by "Declining One's Ballot") the more likely that we will see some positive alternatives ... such as being able to vote on the issues that truly affect us, rather than vote on the politicians that usually don't follow through on their promises.
HOW TO DO IT:
- On voting day go to the polling station with your ID or voter's registration card.
- Tell the polling clerk: "I would like to decline my ballot" ... using those exact words.
- The polling clerk should take your ballot back and write the word "Declined" on it.
- The clerk will then put the ballot into a special envelope marked "Declined Ballots."
- Make sure the clerk doesn't place it in the wrong envelope ... i.e. NOT the "Destroyed Ballots" envelope.
- If there's a problem, (because some polling clerks don't know what a declined ballot is), then ask to speak to the polling captain. He or she should know ... otherwise you may have to file an objection.
- A few months after the election is over, you can check online to see how many in your riding actually declined their ballots. Just go to the Elections Canada (or Ontario) website and look up the results of your polling station.