> No vote is an option we've always had, it's just not voting
No, it's undervoting. Not voting (not casting a ballot at all) is very different from casting an empty ballot (or casting a vote of no confidence).
The difference is massive. Undervoting demonstrates active disaffection with all available candidates. Refraining from voting entirely demonstrates apathy (insufficient interest) towards the election at hand.
Is this a thing that is actually tracked by anyone? In a quick search I didn't see any info about it for the US. I haven't ever voted, but if this were an actual tabulation in elections, I absolutely would. If not, is there really any difference between a no vote and a protest vote?
> Is this a thing that is actually tracked by anyone? In a quick search I didn't see any info about it for the US. I haven't ever voted, but if this were an actual tabulation in elections, I absolutely would.
Yes, it is. Both write-in votes and undervotes are tracked. For example, this is how New York reports the certified results: http://vote.nyc.ny.us/html/results/results.shtml . Note that every write-in candidate is separately listed, including candidates who aren't even valid (Zephyr Teachout does not live in the 7th Congressional District, but two people wrote her in anyway). And the number of undervotes are separately listed as well.
Your local elections board/town clerk/etc. may present them differently, obviously, but they very much are required to track all votes, rather than simply ignoring all ballots that don't count towards one of the listed candidates.
I think what's being asked for is the "none of the above" option. When that is present, and people are particularly unhappy about all the candidates on the ballot, they can express it by picking the "none" options. If enough people are unhappy, that option draws votes away such that no candidate gets the requisite majority. There are several different approaches to resolving the election from there; for example, it could trigger a run-off election, in which the top two candidates may receive a different distribution of votes. And if the run-off sees "none" as the most popular option, it would indicate that neither candidate is acceptable to the populace, so election restarts without them in the play.
No, it's undervoting. Not voting (not casting a ballot at all) is very different from casting an empty ballot (or casting a vote of no confidence).
The difference is massive. Undervoting demonstrates active disaffection with all available candidates. Refraining from voting entirely demonstrates apathy (insufficient interest) towards the election at hand.