Have you spoilt your ballot? A thread to indicate numbers

I will be voting Labour so no.

I spoke to a woman recently who is active in politics and has done numerous counts and she said at one count they put all the spoiled ballots on an overhead projector and went through them one by one. The idea that nobody looks or cares is clearly nonsense.

No no. You must be mistaken. That can't possibly have happened!! Even if you were there and saw it. We've been told this.

WHY WON'T THESE WIMMIN LEARN

I’m probably voting Tory after all as the only means of keeping the libdems from winning in our constituency. Even worse than Labour on this issue.

Why don’t you email them with specific questions?

Your DH and the candidate might have had too unspecific ‘mates’ talk.

I've been at counts too, and everyone wanted to see the spoiled ballots. The messages are informative sometimes and helps form an opinion about the voting public who are feeling unrepresented.

My dh spoke to our labour candidate a few weeks ago, sadly I was out!
We live in a long time tory stronghold that is predicted to go Labour by a landslide. All I've seen is Labour posters and flags, no tory.

My husband asked him about women's rights and children's safe guarding and according to my husband, he did seem concerned about this issue. I am still torn though.

If I don't vote Labour (I am a socialist) I'll put my x on Labour, but spoil it with "if you don't respect my sex, you don't get my X" or something similar.

No. Conservatives and farage are a far greater threat to any of my ideals. In will be voting tactically for the party best placed to oust the tories

Ooh nice I like the skulls. ☠️

I think I’ve got some sort of condition where the more someone badgers or shames me for taking a certain course of action the more I am determined to do that thing anyway even if it harms me. 😂

This is a selection of the stickers I'm going to cover my ballot paper in.

Nobody is being bossy and nobody is telling you not to. We are telling you the reality of what it means, that is all

My son's quite pissed off he can't vote for Count Binface

I spoiled my paper last time and it hurt to do it, though I genuinely didn't feel I had an alternative. Since then, as events have unfolded at Westminster, I have been glad that I followed my gut and my heart and didn't vote for any of the liars, cheats, sneaks or tricksters that make up the shit government or the shit opposition.

I recently attended the local hustings as I really would like to vote proactively this time for someone I believe will represent me, my family and my community well. It's one of the most marginal seats in the country, so every vote really does count (though it was pretty obvious from the audience responses that Labour will take it.) As we all know, there is no good choice of party for GC women and the hustings made it clear there is also no good local candidate here. I can't vote FOR any of them so I'm in the shit position of having to vote AGAINST them. Again.

Spoiling my paper is an option I haven't ruled out, however there is an alternative, in my consitutency at least.

I give you THE MONSTER RAVING LOONY PARTY.

Some exerts from their manifesto:

Cost of Living…To help with the cost of Living and to raise money for the Treasury we will Convert Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street into a Hair salon, Which we will call ‘Government CutZ’

Rwanda…We will send all MPs who misbehave to Rwanda.

Immigration..We will replace employees of the Border Force with GP receptionists. This will dramatically reduce the number of people getting in.

I mean, it's a fairly rubbish joke, but is it any more silly than the magic piece of paper that turns men into women? The belief in a rainbow spell that keeps women safe from predatory men in their spaces?

This is also from the front page of their website, from one of their candidates (Lily the Pink):

I don’t wish to steal anyone else’s votes, stop anyone voting if they have someone to vote for, or to stop anyone who wants to vote tactically doing so.
If you have lost faith, lost interest, don’t see the point, want to protest, need ‘a none of the above’ option then vote for Lily the Pink on the 4th of July

Last time I really hoped that the number of spoiled papers would warrant a mention at least on the news, but I suspect it's deliberately kept out of the headlines so it doesn't become a recognised choice. But if the ridiculous, cringey MRL party are actually attracting a chunk of votes surely that will be newsworthy, and send a clear message to Westminster? I've got to say, it's the only party I'm currently seriously considering. And that is a hideous position I never imagined being in.

I will in all likelihood be spoiling my ballot (still just over a week to go, may be a miracle). As well as reading the manifestos, with a particular interest in the parties I was most likely to vote for, I have also emailed every candidate in my area and asked for their position on a range of issues around single-sex services. None of them have answered. I think I have probably engaged more actively with the electoral process than the vast majority who will be voting for X, Y or Z because 'small boats' or 'NHS' or 'insert personal hobby horse', so if they want to chide people for spoiling then they can carry on, but I'm not sure they should smugly believe they are doing it from sort of moral or politically more informed high ground.

I plan to cover my ballot paper with Adult Human Female stickers. There is genuinely NO-ONE I can in all good conscience vote for. A dreadful state of affairs.

The right thing to do in a democracy is to use your vote exactly as you wish, surely? Vote, spoil it or abstain. They are all 'right'. No party or principle is entitled to our votes.

I will try this again, although I realise it is pointless because of the glare from the shiny haloes.

I have spoiled my ballot for me: whether it is because I am a daft mare, or an evil wrongthinker, or because I have carefully investigated the candidates and their party manifestos and feel that I cannot choose any of them, is up to the reader to decide.

I do not expect anybody to read what I have written.

I do not expect anybody to give a shit.

The one thing that I wish to register (and it will, because the number of spoilt ballots is amongst the information provided after the count) is: That I am not a disengaged voter, and that I did bother to turn out to vote.

I’m still undecided but have no one in my area that makes me want to vote for them.

I might choose to spoil my ballot as is my right. No matter how many bossyboots tell me not to!

SDP and Communist are both reasonable on protecting women’s rights from erosion by policies intended for trans.

Yes, it really is- which is up to you - just do it, but stop trying to persuade others to do it by giving them misinformation about people reading it, etc.

spoil your ballot papers if you want to. Go ahead. I am not telling you not to.

I am telling you is is deceitful to try and influence others to do so on the pretence that it is in anyway a protest that will be counted, recorded, logged, or noticed in any way what so ever.

that quote is ridiculous. no one will EVER read it - even the counter picking it up.

If you want to be read - large thick coloured pen, two words max. Then the person counting might read it. And it might be read by anyone confirming at the showing that the paper is spoilt.

but that is as far as it goes.

I suggest you volunteer for the count, then you will see for yourselves.

Spoiling ballots is a total waste of time.

No

I've voted Labour.

Ousting the SNP is more important