Letter: Give us another voting option

OPINION: Unless I'm mistaken, the current choices one has when voting in an election are a number of coloured boxes denoting the candidate they rest next to. Whenever I have voted in the past I have sometimes been perplexed when I have searched for the box to denote "None of the above".

I wonder whether this would be a good idea, as it may give a more accurate measurement of voter dissent in general.

At present, voter apathy is easy enough to calculate as a known percentage of votes cast and votes uncast. But what about a more general measurement of voter confidence?

What effect, if any, would the implementation of this option for a vote of no confidence have? And would it be considered to have any bearing on the makeup of the government duly elected?

I guess, in the worst-case scenario, the no-confidence vote could exceed the amount of legitimate votes cast. In this scenario, the party with the majority of votes, or able to form a coalition, would be operating under the full comprehension that the majority of the people have no confidence in the present system of political representation.

MATTHEW DOWER

Blenheim

- © Fairfax NZ News

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