Not Voting for President as a Statement of Conscience

Though not voting can be seen as neglecting a fundamental civic duty, some people are opting out of casting a vote for president in this year's election in what they say is an an act of conscience.

Jake Shockley, 22, is one such conscience-driven non-voter.

Unsatisfied with any of the choices for president, Shockley has decided that abstaining from voting for either major-party candidate is his best option. He doesn’t buy the argument that he should choose the least offensive option.

"If I were to follow the rhetoric of voting for the least of the two evils, I would probably vote for Trump," Shockley, a senior at Missouri State University who favored Republican Ben Carson in the primaries and voted Obama in 2008, told ABC News. "But, since I do not believe in voting for the lesser of the two evils, I’m choosing not to." He said he'll still cast his vote in down-ballot races.

A recent Pew study on voter preferences found that many are motivated to head to the polls out of dislike for one particular candidate. The poll found 33 percent of Trump supporters and 32 percent of Clinton voters attributed their choice to opposing the other candidate, instead of enthusiasm for the candidate they've chosen.

Shockley is hardly alone in contending that leaving the box for president empty on his ballot is a legitimate choice in this year’s race.

David Kochel, a veteran Republican strategist who most recently advised the 2016 Jeb Bush campaign and Mitt Romney's before that, said abstaining from a vote for president is a "totally valid" option -- it's one he’s considering himself.

"I've been working for Republican candidates for 32 years. I have voted in almost every election unless there was some specific reason why I couldn’t," Kochel told ABC News. "In this one case, where you have a line on the ballot where neither of the choices of the major parties is acceptable, I think it’s a perfectly legitimate way to express dissatisfaction with both nominees."

His advice to others who are dissatisfied voters like himself: Find the best way to vote based on conscience.

"Sometimes you cast your vote as a sentiment, not as a way to say who you think can win," he said.

"Imagine if 20 million people in the country decided to vote for the down-ballot races, but just decided they’d had enough of the presidential election and not vote for the top of the ticket?" Kochel said. "That would send a very powerful signal. You’ve got to vote your conscience."

Even some members of Congress, like Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colorado, are contemplating the non-vote option.

"I’m struggling with it like many Americans," he said in an interview with a NBC affiliate KUSA in Denver, Colorado. "I don’t know if I’ll cast a vote for president."

Representing a swing district outside Denver with a large Hispanic community, Coffman has aggressively distanced himself from Trump throughout 2016.

Former 2008 Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, who is up for re-election in Arizona this year, is also getting creative with how to vote his conscience in the presidential election. Earlier this month, he said he may write in his friend and former 2016 Republican presidential candidate, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.

ABC News Ben Siegel contributed reporting.

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