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Column
By
Frank Gillespie
The Madison County Journal
December 6, 2000
Frankly
Speaking
 Voting 'none of the
above'
Most of the people arguing over votes in Florida are ignoring
one basic fact. Many people decided to vote for "none of
the above" in the presidential election. Because few ballots
give the voter the option of voting for "none of the above,"
voters often chose to not vote in certain races.
In Madison County, 290 people chose not to vote for president.
That is 3.5 percent of the total votes cast. With our voting
machines, there are no mistakes. Voters must make a deliberate
decision not to flip a lever for a presidential candidate.
Nationwide, nearly two million people did not vote in the presidential
race. In comparison, the 14,000 blank ballots in three Florida
counties are typical. One Miami voter described his experience.
He went into the booth without deciding which presidential candidate
he would support. He voted in all other races then returned to
the presidential column. He placed his stylus in the hole for
Al Gore, then decided not to vote. He removed the stylus without
pushing it through.
In Madison County, 290 voters chose not to vote for president.
That is 3.5 percent of the total votes cast. With our voting
machines, there are no indented, scratched or defaced ballots.
Either you flip the lever or you don't. The failure of these
voters to vote in the presidential race was clearly deliberate.
The action of the Florida voter probably created one of those
dimpled ballots that have caused such an uproar. It would be
impossible for anyone looking at that ballot to judge his intent.
If he had been given the choice of voting for "none of the
above," he would have been able to make his intent clear.
A "none of the above" choice is especially needed when
a candidate is running without opposition. When there is only
one name on the ballot, voters have no real choice. They must
either vote for the one candidate, or not vote at all. On the
record, that candidate has received 100 percent of the votes
cast.
If voters could choose "none of the above," they would
be able to express their disapproval of the one candidate. If
"none of the above" won, the office would be vacant
until a new special election could be held. For example, in Madison
County, Congressman John Linder ran unopposed. He received 4,164
votes - 4,090 people did not vote for him. If they had voted
"none of the above," Linder would have won by only
74 votes.
County surveyor J. R. Smith received 4,076 votes in the general
election, to 4,178 who did not vote. With a "none of the
above" option, he would have lost. District Attorney Bob
Lavender received only 3,626 votes in Madison County, or 44 percent
of the votes cast. Lavender was soundly rejected by Madison County
voters, but the tally sheets will show him receiving 100 percent
of the vote.
If we give our voters the option of voting for "none of
the above," they will have a chance to express the full
range of their opinions. If they find all candidates to be objectionable,
they would be able to say so.
If a candidate running without opposition is not acceptable to
the voters, he or she would not be elected.
The 2000 elections revealed many problems with our election system.
Voting reform is necessary, and many changes can be expected.
I urge our state legislature to strongly consider adding a "none
of the above" category to every election in Georgia so that
voters can make their true feelings clearly known.
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal.
His web page can be accessed at www.mcga.net. His email address
is frankg@mcga.net.
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Column
By
Zach Mitcham
The Madison County Journal
December 6, 2000
From the Editor's Desk
 On
getting it right
Last week's court story in The Madison County Journal was a mess.
A number of cases were incorrectly listed.
And this was entirely my fault.
In grouping cases together under headings, such as "cases
dismissed" and "pled not guilty," I incorrectly
used the cut and paste tool on the computer, placing names into
the wrong categories. This meant that a lot of cases appeared
to be dismissed, when in fact, the accused had entered not guilty
pleas. (Please see this eek's Madison County Journal for the
correct listings.)
It is never my intent, nor the aim of anyone at this paper, to
mislead anyone. And to all of those who saw their name in the
paper with incorrect information, as well as anyone who has an
interest in any of these cases, I sincerely apologize.
While we cannot promise perfection, we can tell you that our
goal is to provide 20 to 30 pages of truth per week to you. It's
a challenging task, but we feel we do a solid job. When we fall
short of that, we are sickened, too. But we will not hide our
mistakes. If we are made aware of an error, we'll make every
effort to present the right information in a prominent place
in the paper.
Court news is important to anyone who is interested in seeing
how justice is served in this community. It is our goal to provide
a thorough and accurate account of what happens in the Madison
County judicial system.
In doing so, we should answer for any mistakes we make. If you
have any questions about court listings or any other news item
in the paper, please call me at 795-2567 or 367-2489. My e-mail
address is madisonjrl@aol.com. The best time to meet with me
in person at the Madison County Journal office on Hwy. 29 in
Danielsville is Monday.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The Madison County Journal.
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