Anita Zednik & Ben Greiner - “Nobody” as a Voting Option

How much sense does make to offer a “none of the above” option on election ballots? Anita Zednik and Ben Greiner from WU Vienna’s Institute for Markets and Strategy have carried out empirical research to investigate this question.

Voting is the most effective and important way to participate in the democratic process. But what if you can’t get behind any of the candidates listed?

Instead of leaving the ballot paper blank or simply not going to the polls at all, in some countries undecided voters and those disenchanted with politics have another option: They can select “none of the above.” This option is available in countries such as India and Colombia, for example.

Anita Zednik and Ben Greiner wondered how such an option would influence election outcomes. To investigate this question, they developed a multi-stage study design and looked at two particularly controversial referendums: the 2016 presidential elections in Austria and the USA, won by Alexander van der Bellen and Donald Trump, respectively.

The research shows that, in both of the countries studied, a “none of the above” option would have channeled many protest votes. However, a subsequent experiment also revealed potential drawbacks: If protest candidates receive fewer votes because a “none of the above” option is available, this primarily strengthens the established parties, giving them even less incentive to address the criticism voiced by protest voters.

So what’s the bottom line? Should we introduce a “none of the above” option on our ballot sheets? In the video, Anita Zednik and Ben Greiner provide arguments for and against the idea – and call for further research. In an interview held at their institute, the researchers also told us how they come up with their research topics and what other exciting projects they are currently working on.