Heads up, disaffected Hamilton voters: There is an actual "none of the above" option on your provincial election ballot this June.

This election, the None of the Above Direct Democracy Party (NOTA for short) is aiming to have candidates running in all five Hamilton-area provincial ridings — and more than half of all 124 electoral districts across Ontario.

The party — founded in 2014 by former Progressive Conservative and Green party candidate Greg Vezina with a focus on direct democracy and electoral reform — started out in the previous election with just eight candidates.

The name may sound like a punchline for cynical voters, but None of the Above is more than a protest vote, said Hamilton Centre candidate Tony Lemma.

"It's really about trying to fix our democracy, which I would argue is in a state of crisis," said the 54-year-old community activist, who sits on the board of Hamilton's social housing agency and recently worked on the city's "community connector" team talking to residents along the planned light rail transit project.

Lemma said he has become frustrated over time with a "top down" political system that he feels cuts engaged citizens out of critical decisions that matter to them.

He and partner Stephanie Davies, a legal assistant who is running for NOTA in Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, are big fans of the party's focus on making elected MPPs more accountable via formal recall options, citizen-initiated referendums and term limits.

Davies, 33, said the current system of provincial governance is "antiquated" and should be overhauled to restore a "voice and dignity" to all voters.

Linda Chenoweth, a retired teacher running in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, said she hopes her new "party of independents" can help push for change in the "archaic" school board system — particularly the decision-making process for closing schools.

It was that "undemocratic" school-closing process that prompted Chenoweth to run, unsuccessfully, for school board trustee in the last municipal election. Feeling disillusioned with party politics, she then made her own provincial election lawn sign that announced "I decline my vote."

"Then I learned there was an actual party called None of the Above, and the more I learned about it, the more I wanted to be involved," she said. "So many people are not happy with the (election) choices available to them. ... We need a new kind of government and new kinds of leaders."

The 59-year-old pointed to a recent opinion poll for Global News that suggested three-quarters of voters wish there were different party leaders to vote for on June 7.

Does she think she can win? "Anything's possible," Chenoweth said, adding she would be pleased regardless if the newcomer party can focus more public attention on Ontario's democratic deficit.

That would be easier, she noted wryly, if the media gave coverage to smaller "but no less important" party voices, noting 24 different political parties are registered for the provincial election.

To that end, Chenoweth is contemplating showing up uninvited to an upcoming televised riding debate. "I will be there to demand my right to have my voice heard," she said.

Other NOTA locals include Rudy Michael Miller, who is preparing to register in Flamborough-Glanbrook, and Scott Miller, who is listed as a possible candidate on Hamilton Mountain.

Other outside-the-mainstream parties with candidates registered to run locally include The New People's Choice Party of Ontario, Trillium Party and Libertarian Party. Candidates can register up until May 17.

mvandongen@thespec.com

905-526-3241 | @Mattatthespec

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