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bout why this electoral reform is so important. He says consent is ‘essential’ to the concept of democracy and it is only meaningful if it can be withheld, which spoiling ballots or abstaining from voting is unable to do. The Parliamentary Political and Constitutional Reform Committee has been investigating voter engagement, and included NOTA in a survey which had the most positive respondents, around 71.8% of people surveyed, and they have recommended that a public consultation be held on it. He feels they could have done more and include it as a recommended reform, given that it got the most votes in the survey. He thinks ‘they don't want to give too much creedence in case people start calling for it en masse.’ Democracy is not the black and white ideal it is represented as, but instead there are levels, and he argues that if consent cannot be withheld then it is not a true democracy. He thinks it would be well used, and if more people voted NOTA, then a second election would have to be held. He agrees with reforms like proportional representation and recall, but they are desirable but ‘not necessarily essential pillars of democracy therefore they can be paid lip service to and roundly ignored.’ One of the members of NOTA UK is looking into whether it is a legal requirement as part of our democracy. NOTA could, he thinks force further electoral reform, and the idea that our voting system allows anything other than a two horse race is ludicrous, and whether UKIP, Green or any other, they will not get in. A NOTA option could force the parties to engage with NOTA voters rather than just worrying about swing voters in certain seats, or else face permanent rejection at the ballot box, and could clean up the political process. LIKE Going Underground http://fb.me/GoingUndergroundRT FOLLOW Going Underground http://twitter.com/Underground_RT FOLLOW Afshin Rattansi http://twitter.com/AfshinRattansi FOLLOW on Instagram http://instagram.com/officialgoingundergroundrt