It's very likely that…

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…if you’re adding an event listener to an <a> without an href attribute, the element you're actually looking for is <button>.

<a onclick="doSomething()">
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</a>

More accessible alternative:

<button onclick="doSomething()">
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</button>

Explanation

If the <a> element has no href attribute, then the element represents a placeholder for where a link might otherwise have been placed. That's neither a regular hyperlink nor a button. A general rule of thumb: Use a link if it takes you somewhere else. Use a button if you submit a form or run JavaScript.

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