# Above Znoneofthe

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

vte2021 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 | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 45,423 | 98.07 | -0.12 | $107,828.60 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 894 | 1.93 | +0.12 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,317 | 63.51 | –3.66 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 72,931 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | –2.15 |
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||
vteCanadian 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 25,205 | 100.0 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 118 | 0.5 | -0.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 25,323 | 30.9 | -35.2 |
| Electors on lists | Electors on lists | Electors on lists | 81,861 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 19,923 | 99.45% |
| Total declined, rejected and unmarked ballots | Total declined, rejected and unmarked ballots | Total declined, rejected and unmarked ballots | 110 | 0.55% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 19.89 | -27.33 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 100,190 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | +6.89 |
vteOntario 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 32,226 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 61 | 0.19 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 32,287 | 28.94 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 111,566 |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | 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

vte1993 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 77,218 | 99.30 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 545 | 0.70 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 77,763 | 70.25 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 110,696 |
| | Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | Swing | +21.14 |
| Sources: Canadian Elections Database, Library of Parliament |||||||