Paper candidate
Encyclopedia
In a representative
Representative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...

 democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

, the term paper candidate is often given to a candidate who stands for a political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in an electoral division where the party in question enjoys only low levels of support. Although the candidate has little chance of winning, a major party will normally make an effort to ensure it has its name on the ballot
Ballot
A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the...

 paper in every constituency.

Paper candidates may be local party members or members from neighbouring areas, or sometimes members from central office. The main purpose of fielding paper candidates is to maintain or improve the profile of a political party. The paper candidates themselves do no campaigning and neither incur nor claim any expenses. Despite this, however, in some unusual circumstances paper candidates have actually won the election.

In Britain paper candidates are commonly fielded in different locations by all the major parties in both Local and National Elections.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, major parties often find it difficult to field a full list of candidates for all council seats up for election, especial in the case of councils with "all-up" elections. Parties find it desirable to persuade people to stand as paper candidates so that:

- Supporters have an opportunity to vote for the party,

- The total vote obtained across the council and the nation is maximised,

- All seats are contested so there is no risk that candidates from other parties can be declared elected unopposed.

In Britain, being nominated as a local election candidate simply involves signing some forms, with no deposit required. A paper candidate will often do no campaigning at all and so be able to submit a zero return of election expenses, simplifying the paperwork for the election agent.

Some paper candidates stand in order to help their party but do not wish to be elected to the post in question. In fact, some paper candidates only agree to stand after receiving assurances that there is no "risk" of them getting elected.

However, in the case of an unexpected large swing to or from a particular party, there have been cases of paper candidates getting elected. For instance, in the so-called "poll tax election" of 1990, the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 government suffered heavily in the local elections due to the unpopularity of the poll tax
Community Charge
The Community Charge, popularly known as the "poll tax", was a system of taxation introduced in replacement of the rates to part fund local government in Scotland from 1989, and England and Wales from 1990. It provided for a single flat-rate per-capita tax on every adult, at a rate set by the...

. Many of the 163 net losses suffered by the Conservatives were seats that fell to paper candidates from the opposition Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 or Liberal Democrat parties.

Canada

In Canada, paper candidates may exist at both the federal and provincial / territorial levels. As in Great Britain, they most commonly exist to allow the main political parties to field candidates in as many constituencies as possible. At the federal level, there is a financial motivation for some parties to field candidates in as many ridings as possible, due to an annual per-vote subsidy of $2.04 (as of 2011) for each party receiving at least 2% of all valid votes in the previous federal election, regardless of the number of seats won.

Alternatively, paper candidates might be used if the party is not seriously contesting the election but must run candidates so it can either get registered or stay registered for some other purpose. An example of this scenario in action is found in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, where the "dormant" Progressive Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan
The Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan is a right-of-centre political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Prior to 1942, it was known as the Conservative Party of Saskatchewan. Members are commonly known as Tories....

 continued to run at least 10 candidates in the province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...

's general elections until the relevant law was amended, to keep its registration with Elections Saskatchewan
Elections Saskatchewan
Elections Saskatchewan is the non-partisan organization which oversees general elections and by-elections for the Saskatchewan Legislature....

 (and to avoid losing control of what is believed to be a substantial amount of money).

An extreme version of a paper candidate, is a "Name on Ballot", often referred to by the acronym "nob". Many NoBs will only put up campaign signs, and some do not even do that. In most cases, the only requirement is that the candidate show up at the returning officer's headquarters for a few moments to take an oath and pay the required nomination deposit. In Alberta candidates don't even need to show up to talk to a returning officer, as long as someone on behalf of the party drops off the requisite paperwork and funds.

In many smaller parties, such as the Island New Democrats, a majority of the party's candidates in any given election are NoBs. The term is often worn as a badge of pride in one's loyalty to the party. Island New Democrat, Dr. Bob Perry, who has been a NoB many times in the past, often calls himself "Dr. NoB" at election time.

Paper candidates, particularly of the name-on-ballot variety, can sometimes provide unwanted attention for the candidate's party, particularly if these candidates suddenly become viable prospects for election. For example, in the 2011 federal election, a sudden increase in opinion-poll support, particularly in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, for the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

 – which historically has had a minimal presence in that province – led to greater scrutiny of some of that party's lower-profile Quebec candidates — one of whom, Ruth Ellen Brosseau
Ruth Ellen Brosseau
Ruth Ellen Brosseau is a Canadian politician. She was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a New Democratic Party candidate in the 2011 federal election.-Early life:...

, won even though she had never been in her riding and spoke its dominant language poorly.

The Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

 also had a number of paper candidates who won election in the party's historic landslide victory in the 1984 election
Canadian federal election, 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...

.
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