NewsWhore
12-18-2009, 01:30 PM
Support is gathering pace for the proposal by singer Victor Victor, political scientist Rafael Toribio and artistic promoter Cholo Brenes and others who propose including a box where voters could indicate they choose none of the candidates running in the election in the electoral ballot for the congressional and municipal elections. The promoters say this would be a way for the electoral court (JCE) to perfect the voting system and that they would lobby for a bill to be presented to Congress with this modality.
But Julio Castanos Guzman, president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE) rejected the proposal. He said the option is not contemplated in the electoral law.
Toyjarto, one of the groups making the proposal, says that the only option for those who oppose candidates that are running for office today have is to abstain from the process. Promoters of the "none" option feel that if the citizen vote for "none" is majority, then new candidates would need to be presented. They argue this would make for more representative and participative democracy, and would encourage better candidates to run for office, as this would eliminate the common decision to vote for "the least bad" candidate.
Homero Figueroa of Diario Libre writes today that "to elect not to elect" is an election. He agrees that those who propose the "none" option seek to improve Dominican democracy. "There is no way of sending a loud enough message to the politicians that they are on the wrong trail. That is why we have a system where the least bad candidate prevails. The competition becomes a struggle between incompetents. If none represent us, then we should be able to vote for 'none'," he writes.
Thursday's Clave newspaper also editorialized in favor of the "none" candidate. Gustavo Olivo Pena writing in the editorial page supports the inclusion of this method and says that the percentage should count. He says that the situation where voters are extorted into supporting "the least bad" candidate would end and legislation could be drafted to invalidate elections when those voting "none" surpass the vote for individual candidates. "None" is the best candidate for 2010 and 2012, he writes.
http://toyjarto.com/2009/12/16/el-voto-por-ninguno-y-sus-implicaciones/
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)
But Julio Castanos Guzman, president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE) rejected the proposal. He said the option is not contemplated in the electoral law.
Toyjarto, one of the groups making the proposal, says that the only option for those who oppose candidates that are running for office today have is to abstain from the process. Promoters of the "none" option feel that if the citizen vote for "none" is majority, then new candidates would need to be presented. They argue this would make for more representative and participative democracy, and would encourage better candidates to run for office, as this would eliminate the common decision to vote for "the least bad" candidate.
Homero Figueroa of Diario Libre writes today that "to elect not to elect" is an election. He agrees that those who propose the "none" option seek to improve Dominican democracy. "There is no way of sending a loud enough message to the politicians that they are on the wrong trail. That is why we have a system where the least bad candidate prevails. The competition becomes a struggle between incompetents. If none represent us, then we should be able to vote for 'none'," he writes.
Thursday's Clave newspaper also editorialized in favor of the "none" candidate. Gustavo Olivo Pena writing in the editorial page supports the inclusion of this method and says that the percentage should count. He says that the situation where voters are extorted into supporting "the least bad" candidate would end and legislation could be drafted to invalidate elections when those voting "none" surpass the vote for individual candidates. "None" is the best candidate for 2010 and 2012, he writes.
http://toyjarto.com/2009/12/16/el-voto-por-ninguno-y-sus-implicaciones/
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#6)