Pill for a Bogus Illness

An entrepreneur from Pebble Beach thinks he’s doing the voters of California a favor by circulating an initiative that would allow them to choose “none of these candidates” if they did not like any of those on the ballot. Al Shugart thinks it would allow us an outlet for expressing our disgust for the political system, rather than just staying at home on election day.

But Shugart should spare California this political gimmick and save his money by taking the petition out of circulation. California has eight political parties, ranging from the American Independent on the right to the Peace and Freedom on the left. That gives us plenty of choice if we want to express discontent with the two major parties. Or, if voters can’t bring themselves to support any candidate for a particular office, they can just leave that contest unmarked.

Shugart wants to put the issue on the March 2000 ballot. As in Nevada, which has such a law, the leading vote-getter would win the contest even if “none of these” collected more votes. A Nevada state senator who has tried to repeal his state’s law is correct to say “it’s a vote for nothing.”

Shugart tried to protest the political system in 1996 by running Ernest, his 120-pound Bernese mountain dog, for Congress. That made more sense. At least a vote for Ernest would have been a vote for something.