Throw the bums out
The week's news at a glance.
Ulyanovsk, Russia
A Russian city this week failed for the second time to elect a representative to the national legislature when the option “None of the above” took the most votes. In the first try at picking a Duma representative, during the parliamentary election in December, 20 percent of voters in Ulyanovsk checked “None of the above,” the box at the bottom of the ballot. That was more than double the support given to any of the 14 actual candidates, including the incumbent. In a repeat election this week, “None of the above” increased its following to 21.5 percent, while the leading human contender took only 12 percent. “At a minimum,” said voter Aleksei Budovky, “this should sound like a warning to someone.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
ICE builds detention camps and ramps up arrests
Feature The Trump administration's deportation efforts continue
-
The 'secret' to 'avoiding a monthly car payment'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung