Do Australians have the option of none of the above on their ballots?

Answer 1

No, however a large proportion of the Australian public do not waste their time filling in the ballot paper, but rather leave it blank. This "donkey vote" is generally seen as a "none of the above" vote, or one of no confidence in the system/elected officials (this tends to be roughly 10% of votes at Federal elections, but does fluctuate a lot). The politicians try to pretend that this is due to people not filling in voting forms properly, however the large variations in donkey votes suggests that this argument is largely a fallacy.

Also, at other elections such as those at the municipal level (council elections), large amounts of registered voters do not vote and rather pay the fine for not voting. In some Sydney districts with limited parking near voting booths, this can reach as much as 40% of the electorate.