Above Znoneofthe (né Sheldon Bergson; born 28 June 1969) is a Canadian politician and perennial candidate. He changed his name to "Above Znoneofthe" with a silent "Z" so that his name would be placed last on alphabetical ballots (hence reflecting the idea of voting for None of the Above).
Biography
While a university student, Znoneofthe ran in the 1993 Canadian federal election as a candidate for the short-lived National Party of Canada in the Ontario riding of Markham—Whitchurch-Stouffville, earning about 1% of the vote.
Znoneofthe re-entered politics in 2015, and legally changed his name so that it would appear on electoral ballots as "Znoneofthe, Above", adding a silent Z so that his name would appear at the bottom of alphabetical-order ballots. Znoneofthe explained that his name was chosen for those who do not usually vote, telling CBC News that he thought "one of these days we should get 'none of the above' on a ballot."
He first ran under his changed name in a provincial by-election in Whitby—Oshawa on 11 February 2016; however, since Ontario electoral ballots list candidates' names with their given names first, he appeared as "Above Znoneofthe".
Later in 2016, during a by-election campaign in Ottawa—Vanier, Znoneofthe attempted to participate in a debate to which he was not invited, as a candidate under the None of the Above party. Audience members shouted for Znoneofthe and perennial candidate John Turmel, running under the Pauper Party, who was also not invited, to leave, but neither left until escorted off of the stage by police. Znoneofthe did appear last on the alphabetized list of candidates in the CBC News article describing the incident.
He has since run in several by-elections as an independent and as a member of the None of the Above Party. He contested the 2021 Canadian federal election as a member of the Rhinoceros Party, running in the riding of Papineau against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Electoral record
Federal
| 2021 Canadian federal election: Papineau | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Justin Trudeau | 22,848 | 50.30 | –0.82 | $82,530.41 | |||
| New Democratic | Christine Paré | 10,303 | 22.68 | +3.48 | $8,058.03 | |||
| Bloc Québécois | Nabila Ben Youssef | 6,830 | 15.04 | –0.96 | $3,928.18 | |||
| Conservative | Julio Rivera | 2,198 | 4.84 | +0.6 | $9,640.70 | |||
| Green | Alain Lepine | 1,448 | 3.19 | –4.18 | $4,443.78 | |||
| People's | Christian Boutin | 1,064 | 2.34 | +1.71 | $0.00 | |||
| Rhinoceros | Above Znoneofthe | 418 | 0.92 | +0.21 | $0.00 | |||
| Marxist–Leninist | Garnet Colly | 115 | 0.25 | – | $0.00 | |||
| Independent | Raymond Martin | 102 | 0.22 | – | $0.00 | |||
| Independent | Béatrice Zako | 97 | 0.21 | – | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 45,423 | 98.07 | -0.12 | $107,828.60 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 894 | 1.93 | +0.12 | |||||
| Turnout | 46,317 | 63.51 | –3.66 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 72,931 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | –2.15 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada | ||||||||
| Canadian federal by-election, October 26, 2020: Toronto Centre Resignation of Bill Morneau | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Marci Ien | 10,581 | 42.0 | -15.4 | $116,839 | |||
| Green | Annamie Paul | 8,250 | 32.7 | +25.6 | $100,008 | |||
| New Democratic | Brian Chang | 4,280 | 17.0 | -5.3 | $71,222 | |||
| Conservative | Benjamin Gauri Sharma | 1,435 | 5.7 | -6.4 | $0 | |||
| People's | Baljit Bawa | 269 | 1.1 | – | $22,752 | |||
| Libertarian | Keith Komar | 135 | 0.5 | – | ||||
| Independent | Kevin Clarke | 123 | 0.5 | – | ||||
| Free | Dwayne Cappelletti | 76 | 0.3 | – | $1,570 | |||
| No affiliation | Above Znoneofthe | 56 | 0.2 | – | $0 | |||
| Total valid votes | 25,205 | 100.0 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 118 | 0.5 | -0.2 | |||||
| Turnout | 25,323 | 30.9 | -35.2 | |||||
| Electors on lists | 81,861 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -20.5 | ||||||
| Elections Canada | ||||||||
Ontario
| Ontario provincial by-election, February 27, 2020: Ottawa—Vanier Resignation of Nathalie Des Rosiers | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Lucille Collard | 10,404 | 52.22 | +9.36 | ||||
| New Democratic | Myriam Djilane | 5,031 | 25.25 | -4.42 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Patrick Mayangi | 2,329 | 11.69 | -9.69 | ||||
| Green | Benjamin Koczwarski | 1,709 | 8.58 | +4.50 | ||||
| Independent | Julie Fiala | 188 | 0.94 | |||||
| Libertarian | Ken Lewis | 129 | 0.65 | -0.04 | ||||
| None of the Above | Above Znoneofthe | 95 | 0.48 | -0.38 | ||||
| Ontario Alliance | J. Justin O'Donnell | 38 | 0.19 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 19,923 | 99.45% | ||||||
| Total declined, rejected and unmarked ballots | 110 | 0.55% | ||||||
| Turnout | 19.89 | -27.33 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 100,190 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +6.89 | ||||||
| Ontario provincial by-election, February 11, 2016: Whitby—Oshawa Resignation of Christine Elliott | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Lorne Coe | 17,053 | 52.92 | +12.27 | ||||
| Liberal | Elizabeth Roy | 8,865 | 27.51 | −3.99 | ||||
| New Democratic | Niki Lundquist | 5,172 | 16.05 | −6.99 | ||||
| Green | Stacey Leadbetter | 529 | 1.64 | −2.63 | ||||
| None of the Above | Greg Vezina | 261 | 0.81 | – | ||||
| Independent | Above Znoneofthe | 140 | 0.43 | – | ||||
| Libertarian | Adam McEwan | 109 | 0.34 | – | ||||
| People's Political Party | Garry Cuthbert | 52 | 0.16 | – | ||||
| Freedom | Douglas Thom | 34 | 0.11 | −0.44 | ||||
| Pauper | John Turmel | 11 | 0.03 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 32,226 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 61 | 0.19 | ||||||
| Turnout | 32,287 | 28.94 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 111,566 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | +8.13 | ||||||
| Source(s) Elections Ontario (12 February 2016). "Return from the Records, 2016 By-election Whitby—Oshawa (100)" (PDF). Retrieved 18 February 2016. | ||||||||
As Sheldon Bergson
| 1993 Canadian federal election: Markham—Whitchurch-Stouffville | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Jag Bhaduria | 35,909 | 46.50 | +14.69 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Bill Attewell | 19,695 | 25.51 | -27.59 | ||||
| Reform | Joe Sherren | 17,937 | 23.23 | – | ||||
| New Democratic | Jack Grant | 1,692 | 2.19 | -6.80 | ||||
| National | Sheldon Bergson | 973 | 1.26 | – | ||||
| Natural Law | Stephen Porter | 469 | 0.61 | – | ||||
| Independent | Paul Wang | 458 | 0.59 | – | ||||
| Abolitionist | Dean Papadopoulos | 85 | 0.11 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 77,218 | 99.30 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 545 | 0.70 | ||||||
| Turnout | 77,763 | 70.25 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 110,696 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | +21.14 | ||||||
| Sources: Canadian Elections Database, Library of Parliament | ||||||||
References
- ^ Reilly, Katie (30 January 2016). "Man Legally Changes Name to 'Above Znoneofthe' to Appear Last on Ballot". Time. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ "History of the Federal Electoral Ridings, 1867–2010". Government of Canada. Library of Parliament. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- "Man changes name to Above Znoneofthe for Ont. byelection". CTV News. 29 May 2017. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- Elections Ontario (12 February 2016). "Return from the Records, 2016 By-election Whitby—Oshawa (100)" (PDF). Retrieved 18 February 2016. Alternate Link Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- "Police escort 2 uninvited candidates out of Ottawa-Vanier byelection debate". CBC News. 11 November 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
- "September 20, 2021 General Election Results Validated by the Returning Officer". Elections Canada. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- "September 20, 2021 General Election Results Validated by the Returning Officer". Elections Canada. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- "Toronto Centre: October 26, 2020, by-elections — Poll-by-poll results". Elections Canada. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- "October 26, 2020, By-elections: Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- "1993 Federal Election: Markham—Unionville". Canadian Elections Database. University of Calgary. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2021.