FIRST IT WAS WINE. Then it was croissants at every corner shop. Now, under the label of Proposition 23, Californians want to steal another important cultural icon of France -- voting for ``none of the above.'' For a change, the French may appreciate the compliment.

I should know. I was born and raised in France, so I grew up with ``none of the above.'' The French call it ``vote blanc'' (white vote), because the voter casts a white, plain ballot instead of one with the name of a candidate.

I have to confess that I have used it. Worse, I was 18, and it was the first time I was allowed to vote. In junior high, we French have to take classes in ``education civique,'' where we learn that voting is one of our duties as French citizens. (Striking was another, at least according to my unionized teacher.) I voted ``blanc'' in a local election and was so proud of myself that I called all my friends before and after casting my vote. It was an act of rebellion, a ``revolution pacifique.''

I did not like any of the five candidates who were running in my district. And I wanted them to know. Call it stupid, I call it logical. Call it useless, I call it a political statement, in post-revolutionary France.

Apparently the French started voting ``blanc'' as early as 1795, and the process was officially allowed in 1853. Most politicians hate it. And in the end, it cannot ``win'' even if it receives more votes than any of the candidates. In other words, the vote blanc is as electorally useless as the ``none of the above'' option that will be available in California if Proposition 23 passes today. But we love it anyway. Try to take ``vote blanc'' away from the French, and the whole country would go on strike.

Al Shugart, the sponsor of Proposition 23 who made headlines in 1996 by running his dog, Ernest, as a candidate for Congress, spent more than $1 million of his own money to qualify the ``none of the above'' initiative. Shugart says that he was inspired by a similar measure approved in Nevada in 1976. He probably does not realize that he has a French ``frere'' who fought a similar sort of battle. In 1989, 200 years after the French revolution, Gerard Gautier, a Brittany businessman, created a White Ballot political party called ``Mouvement Blanc c'est exprime'' (white is a way of expression). Gautier called for a constitutional change to institutionalize the ``white vote'' only to be told by a government official that ``an election is, by definition, meant to elect somebody.''

Nevertheless, in the parliamentary elections of March 1993, the vote blanc did better than the vote Vert (Green vote) at the national level. No big hurdle in France, where the ``Verts'' are not exactly a political force, but significant enough to be noted. And in one district near Nice, where there was a run-off between a conservative and a far-right candidate, 12 percent of the voters did cast a white ballot rather than just stay home. That's a pretty powerful political statement. The Friends of Ernest (Shugart's pooch died last year) have their own example. They point out that ``none of the above'' did better than George Bush and Edward Kennedy in the 1980 Nevada presidential primary.

According to the latest Field Poll, ``none of the above'' is trailing by 26 points, with 53 percent of likely voters opposed, 27 percent in favor and 20 percent undecided. But in France, where having an opinion is a source of national pride, only wimps are undecided, and ``none of the above'' is the choice of the sophisticated voter.