Write-in Better Than No Vote

Jeff Alson's 'To Vote or Not to Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Electoral Choices," in the March issue of AGENDA, addressed an important issue that is rarely discussed in the press.

I disagree, however, with Alson's recommendation that people forego voting altogether if they cannot support any of the candidates on the ballot. A better idea is to mark your primary ballot "uncommitted." The presence of uncommitted delegates encourages more discussion of the issues during the party platform debates, especially when no candidate has collected a majority of delegate votes before the convention.

Better still, voters can write in the names of eligible candidates they would prefer to be nominated. Write-in votes get tabulated and of ten get reported in the paper. National Public Radio actually read the entire list of dozens of candidates receiving write-in votes in the New Hampshire primary.

A write-in vote makes a political statement; staying home on primary day just counts as one more vote for political apathy.

Louisa Coan

ANN ARBOR