Why Illinois Politicians Won’t Allow a “None of the Above” Ballot Option

First an admission:  I introduced a bill that would have put “None of the Above” on Illinois ballots.

It went nowhere.

None of the AboveNevada’s legislature passed such a bill, apparently in the 1970’s.

In this week’s Democratic Party primary for Governor, “None of the Above” won with almost 30% of the votes.

Second place honors went to Bob Goodman, who almost reached the 25% mark in the eight-way contest.

That doesn’t mean Republican incumbent Brian Sandoval won’t have an opponent.  (He got 90% of the vote, “None of the Above” received 10%.)

It will be Sandoval v. Goodman this fall.

In Illinois Governor Pat Quinn had a “no name” running against him in the Democratic Primary Election.  Tio Hardiman received 28% of the vote.

I guess that’s a pretty good proxy for “None of the Above.”

Given the number of unopposed legislative primary candidates in both parties, however, I think the chance of the Illinois General Assembly ever allowing voters to express dissatisfaction the way Nevada voters can is as close to nonexistent as one can get.

Too many would get embarrassed.

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The “None of the Above” image came from Blue Ridge Muse.


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