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Plan gives voters option to not vote for any candidate

By JANET ZINK
Published April 24, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - A Florida lawmaker wants voters to have a guaranteed alternative to all the candidates on future ballots: "I Choose Not to Vote."

State Sen. Michael Bennett, R-Bradenton, has introduced a bill that would require every contest on a ballot to include that as an option.

Bennett introduced the bill in the wake of the controversial District 13 congressional race, where more than 18,000 ballots were cast in Sarasota County with no candidate selected. The large number of "undervotes" prompted claims of voting machine malfunction, and Democrat Christine Jennings challenged her 369-vote loss to Republican Vern Buchanan. A U.S. House of Representatives task force is investigating the election.

Bennett told the Senate committee on ethics and elections Monday he doesn't think there was anything wrong with the machines; voters were just turned off by the nasty campaign.

"Some people walked up to the polls and said, 'You know what, I don't want to vote for anybody,' " he said.

If voters had a choice that made it clear they did not wish to support any candidate, it might minimize questions about undervotes, he said.

"Florida has an undue burden on it to have clear options," he said.

The bill includes a peculiar provision: If "I Choose Not to Vote" receives the most votes, the candidate with the most votes would be the winner.

Bennett made a point of saying the option would not be "None of the Above," which sounds more like a rejection of the candidates.

Choosing not to vote, he said, could also mean "I don't know, I don't care."

Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, suggested testing Bennett's idea out in a city or county before going statewide with it to make sure it wouldn't "screw up the process."

Bennett responded: "I think it would be hard to find a process more screwed up than ours."

Bennett said he hopes to get the proposal, which has no companion bill in the House, attached to bills moving through both chambers that provide for earlier presidential primaries in the state.

Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, was skeptical that Bennett's bill would find support in the House.

"An idea that dramatic, which has never been discussed in the House, would have a difficult time finding support at this late juncture," he said.

[Last modified April 24, 2007, 01:39:18]