We have collaborated with Barnet Youth Board to create a series of four blogs, getting youth opinion on a range of political issues. The opinions below are from young people aged 11 – 18 who are politically active as members of the Youth Board. This is the last in the series on the topic of the youth vote.
Question: Should we have an option to vote none of the above? Why?
“Yes, in case someone is eligible (to vote) but doesn’t wish to vote for a candidate due to lack of knowledge. Better to vote for nobody than to not vote at all. In my opinion, voting should be compulsory but there should be an abstain/none of the above option”. - Samar Barakat, 18.
“Yes, because people in the UK aren’t that involved in politics. I think people have lost faith in politics, due to past memories. Even if they don’t know much, I think they should still vote in order to show it is a united UK”. – Ramisa.
“The issue is motivating people to vote and research. Politics is the issue as the lies have become routine and lost peoples’ interest. Placing a ‘none of the above’ option in the hope of more people voting is fatuous”. – Paniz Nobahari, 15.
“Yes, because if you don’t like any of the candidates, you should be able to vote and say you don’t want any of them in power”. – Savan, 11.
“A none of the above vote is like not going to vote at all. There should be an opinion box instead”. – TJ, 14.
“Yes. A lot of people don’t vote because they don’t like or understand politics in its current form. However, this doesn’t show their dissatisfaction. The only way to do this is to spoil your ballot paper, but many people don’t know about this option. Having an option to vote ‘none of the above’ will allow these people to get their views across”. – Garance Zinzen, 16.
“No, because if ‘none of the above’ is available, it will be the same as them not turning up to vote. The current voting system is efficient”. – Odysseas, 17.
