Viral

There's now a #VoteNobody campaign for people who hate both Clinton and Trump

There's now a #VoteNobody campaign for people who hate both Clinton and Trump
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Growing discontent with the options available in the presidential election has led some Americans to advocate voting for no one.

Both candidates have awful favourability ratings compared to previous elections - according to Gallup, Trump stands at net -34 per cent while Hillary fares slightly better at net -14 per cent. Still, neither are in positive figures.

Facebook groups and websites have been popping up with the tagline 'Vote Nobody 2016', appealling to people to abandon the Republican and Democrat offerings to opt for a 'none of the above'.

Unsurprisingly, they resonate:

Probably due to the humour they employ:

The Facebook page is liked by over 100,000 people and was created during the previous election by a man called Fred Barnet - however it was only until this election that the page took off from a previous 2,500 likes.

Barnet, 34, told the BBC:

I believe our time is better spent doing other things. We have freedom of choice and that includes the choice not to participate.

This kind of political apathy, though acting as a respite in a tawdry low-brow presidential race, is actually rather insidious.

It's no secret social media is overwhelmingly used by the young and if these memes act as a placebo for actually voting, that's a problem.

While voting for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein, third and fourth party candidates, shows a degree of political engagement and demonstartes a voter is underwhelmed with Republican or Democrat offerings, not voting is often interpreted as political apathy.

Whichever demographic you represent, by not voting you are making that demographic seem less bothered and thus a less attractive option for politicians to champion.

Young people going to rallies or making snarky memes as opposed to going to the ballot box have no right to complain when politicians don't cater to them - you have to take responsibility for your end of the electoral bargain by showing willingness to vote, even if it's not for Trump or Clinton.

If you do vote, however, enjoy the memes all you like.

More: Did the Australian government really just say this to Donald Trump?

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