Voting 'none of the above'

Bloo raises an interesting point:

[I]f I voted for my rep., can I remove my vote without placing it elsewhere?

The simple answer is yes, you can. You can submit an unmarked ballot and, just as now, that ballot will not register a vote for any candidate.

A more radical approach is to allow a voter to mark a ballot for 'none of the above'. If 'none of the above' wins a seat, no candidate takes the seat, and that seat is considered to always vote no to every proposal. In a first-past-the-post system, voting 'none of the above' is of limited utility, since it would be difficult (though certainly not impossible) to achieve a plurality in a district. However, in any system that includes any form of proportional representation (including the party list system used in European elections and the Additional Member System used in Welsh, Scottish and London elections), voting 'none of the above' carries more weight. This is because 'none of the above' functions similarly to a minor party, and one of the design elements of proportional representation is to allow minor parties to win seats.

Allowing 'none of the above' votes is likely to have several consequences:

1. Increased voter turnout. It's not unusual for a non-voter to say that dissatisfaction with all the available parties led them to not bother voting.
   
2. Reduced support for fringe or extremist parties. Fringe parties can gather votes from people who don't necessarily support all of their policies, but wish to protest against the major parties.
3. An improved measure of political dissatisfaction. Currently, non-voters are an amalgam of those who don't care what the results of an election are and those who don't wish to support any of the candidates. A 'none of the above' vote makes it possible to distinguish between these two very different groups.

Anytime Voting and 'none of the above' votes are independent measures. Either can be implemented without the other.