Some People’s Choice Is ‘None of the Above’ : Politics: A group in Massachusetts is urging voters to use the option to show their dissatisfaction. In Nevada, ‘NOTA’ has won six times.

Some voters are pushing “none of the above” as a better option in a year when they think the ballot choices are not suited for public office.

The none-of-the-above (NOTA) option has been listed on Nevada ballots since 1976--and won six times.

The idea has attracted attention in Massachusetts, especially from liberals who are scratching their heads over the choices to replace Gov. Michael S. Dukakis--Democrat John R. Silber and Republican William F. Weld.

Silber, a tough-talking university president, alienated some Democrats with his blunt statements about women and minorities. Weld, an advocate of conservative stands on fiscal policy and gun control, offers little comfort to liberals thinking about defecting from the majority party.

The Pioneer Valley Pro-Democracy Campaign wants election officials in six communities to count the NOTA vote this year, says group spokesman Randy Kehler.

“It seems to be striking a very responsive chord,” he said.

The group will hand out NOTA stickers to voters on Election Day, Kehler said, adding that election officials he had spoken to seemed interested in the group’s proposal.

Margaret Nartowicz of the Amherst, Mass., town clerk’s office said NOTA votes would be counted in that community.

Kehler said the NOTA option would be more than a mere expression of dissatisfaction. If NOTA won more votes than the candidates, he said, it would force a new election with new candidates.

“Voters need this option when the political system is not giving them candidates to their liking,” Kehler said.

In Nevada, the NOTA option has been on the ballot in statewide races since 1976. But that state does not provide for new elections if NOTA wins.

Don Mello, a former Democratic Nevada state senator, introduced the NOTA legislation in the mid-1970s after finding widespread dissatisfaction among voters in the post-Watergate years.

“Back in 1975, I would go door-to-door, and I found so many people who said: ‘We would vote for you, but we’re not going to vote,” Mello said. “I started thinking: ‘What can I get on the ballot that will get people to go to the polls?’ ”

The NOTA choice gives people a way to register their dissatisfaction with candidates at the top of the ballot, while voting for other offices, he said.