Left In Lowell

Why is a blank vote not considered a vote? If you review the Democratic primary election results for the city of Lowell, posted by the Election Commission, a non-vote or a blank vote is not considered in the tabulations.

I am suggesting that those who did left a blank next to the names of candidates who are running unopposed, do it as a form of voting against that particular individual or as a form of protest; that this is not an election but an acclamation. We know the writing-in vote is a direct form of voting against the candidate but the blank vote is left to interpretation.

A total of at least 9,540 Democratic ballots were cast in the primary election last week. That is the total number of ballots counted in the gubernatorial race. However, that was not the case for those races where the candidate was unopposed, the total was much less than that. (more…)