NOTA
| None of the Above | |
| Personal Details | |
| Occupation: | voting option |
| Party: | Multiple |
| Facebook: | |
None of the Above (NOTA) is an alternative to selecting a candidate for nomination or party office mandated by the national bylaws and most Libertarian Party affiliate bylaws.
NOTA or an equivalent is available for elections in Nevada, Russia, Ukraine, and Spain. It is also used by the US Green Party.
NOTA is an implicit option in Approval Voting, when no candidate gets 50% approval.
Votes Known to have been Won by NOTA
At the 1975 Libertarian National Convention, none of the initial candidates for Vice President were nominated. A consensus candidate, David Bergland was selected after a search to find someone the convention would be willing to nominate who met the age requirement.
In 1991, NOTA defeated all Green Party candidates for nomination for California Governor and another candidate in southern California. Unfortunately, the California Secretary of State sued, forcing the disallowal of NOTA in Green Party primaries.
In 2001, In an approval vote, no candidates received 50% of the vote for Texas Political Director by the State Libertarian Executive Committee. Rock Howard was later selected.
In 2006, NOTA was elected as the chair of the Tarrant County Libertarian Party.
At the 2012 Libertarian National Convention, neither starting candidate for national chair was able to defeat NOTA.
Cultural References
- NOTA featured prominently in the 1985 Richard Pryor comedy Brewster's Millions.