NOTA - None Of The Above

http://tinyurl.com/Blog-NOTA-NoneOfTheAbove

Well, for over 20 years, I've been writing op-ed's, letters to the editor's, letters and emails to politicians and more recently comments to online articles but here's my first blog on the topic.

Down here in my neck of the woods, we have had several local elections where NONE OF THE ABOVE should have been a choice and likely would have won, going back to the Edwin Edwards vs. David Duke gubernatorial race for the Governor of Louisiana to more recent races where Ray Nagin won a second term for Mayor of the "Chocolate City of New Orleans".

I decided to start Googling for other websites and info about NOTA (which seems to be the most common acronym) and found MANY already exist. There is even one State in the USA, Nevada, where "None Of These Candidates" is listed on their ballots in all statewide races, including the President.

So... here's a partial list of the websites I've been reading the past couple of days... but at the top of the list is the NEW Yahoo Group I just started for NOTA folks to have a forum to discuss, debate and learn more about this MUCH NEEDED ballot choice.

NOTA Yahoo Group - Come join this forum and discuss, debate and learn more about NOTA and how it can help the individual voter gain more power over the powers-that-be so you do not have to choose the lesser of two evils.

http://www.nota.org/ - a pretty good and informative website with lots of good information from what I can see so far. They don't have a forum yet but I suggested they start up a NOTA Yahoo Group or just refer folks to the new group I started above.

http://nota.mywiz.org/ - you can JOIN this site and help it get more active. It seems pretty inactive right now but they do have forums and some good links.

http://www.noneoftheabove-tn.org/ - a NOTA movement for the State of Tennessee.

http://www.onlinenevada.org/None_of_These_Candidates - NOTA (or NOTC) is actually the LAW in Nevada, since 1975.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/None_of_the_above - Wikipedia's take on NOTA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/None_of_These_Candidates - Wikipedia's take on Nevada's NOTC law.

http://www.newswithviews.com/DeWeese/tom111.htm - Nice long article about NOTA.

http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/3159 - Same article reprinted in CFP - Canadian Free Press.

http://www.nolanchart.com/article5283.html - A GREAT website for political information and Nolan also supports NOTA issues.... and lots of comments on this article.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061110/OPINION/611100405/1029/OPINION01 - Herald-Tribune Newspaper article about NOTA from 2006.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2006/02/23/20060223-B1-02.html - The Columbus Dispatch 2006 article about NOTA.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-01-26-bush-sotu-corruption_x.htm?csp=14 - USA Today's take on the NOTA issue.

And... LAST but not least...

http://www.amazon.com/None-Above-2008-Ultimate-Protest/dp/1935071017 - "None Of The Above: Why 2008 Is The Year To Cast The Ultimate Protest Vote", a book all about NOTA.

I hope you decided to join the NOTA Yahoo Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NOTA-NoneOfTheAbove/JOIN and if you did, say hi and lets start the discussion/debate on this much needed choice in Louisiana and National elections.

Lenny Vasbinder