When it comes to election time my general approach is "Don't encourage them, don't vote." I've never been disappointed with that considered choice.
But Henry Olsen has an idea that might get me into a booth: a negative vote.
We know exactly who we cannot stand and why the other lot would be a disaster. But our positive support for any party is probably lukewarm at best. ...
Perhaps the voting system should reflect that.
Imagine this: ... You head to the polls and discover that, not only can you vote for a party, but you can also vote against one.
Instead of adding to your preferred party’s vote count, you could bring down the count of one you hate. Now that voters have finally mastered MMP, this would take democracy to a whole new level.
Are you a middle-aged farmer worried about the Greens’ alternative Budget, or a young college graduate mad at the Coalition for reducing Auckland’s housing construction allowance? Use the negative vote to express your anger!
No one would be obliged to use their positive vote, so all votes could be negative. The party with the fewest negative votes would then win the election.
I like it. It could be that all parties are so hated, we could have a Prime Minister leading a party with more negative votes than positive. Just fewer negative votes than all those other bastards.
Then let's see them talk about their bloody "mandate."
PS: Which of the bastards would you be voting against?
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