To think deliberately spoiling a ballot paper......

[needmorebalance]

Is the same as not voting at all?!

Someone will still be prime minister and they won't lose any sleep over the number of spoiled ballots.

I think spoiling a ballot is a waste of time.

Be careful if you are soiling your ballot. A young man drew a cock on his paper but part of it was over the box for the conservative candidate and it counted as a vote for him because it was s clear mark within one box.

Soiling your ballot sounds like a very unpleasant protest vote.

Hackmum - ok. I'll bite. I kind of picked up your sarcasm. Thanks for that. So what would you suggest? If there is nobody you want to vote for as you don't agree with any policies how are we the voter supposed to get s message across? Don't vote? It's seen as apathy. How exactly to we get a message across?

Emily Davidson did not die for twats to draw cocks on a ballot paper.

Things I did not expect to read today.

Don't vote? It's seen as apathy. How exactly to we get a message across?

There must be someone you hate least. So vote for them and then let them know you voted for them because they were the least shit. But that next time you expect better want them to be good. Not just less shit. Tell them why you want. A cock, while amusing doesn't get your point across. Is that a cock for Scottish Independance. A cock against austerity? A cock for Brexit?

Ok, I stand by my thoughts that it's a pointless exercise. The papers will always be a minority and will effectively be ignored.

If people don't like any party, they need to do something about it and start their own party not draw a cock on a ballot paper.

No party is ever going to be everything you want, but most people can manage to find some policies they agree with.

Cowardly and stupid sorry I would have no respect for anyone doing that.

Go out and demonstrate, enter local politics, campaign that's what adults do.

Spoiling is a perfectly valid way to exercise you're opinion. There are systems that remove this by actually adding a 'none of the above' option

I think people are just reacting like this because the word 'spoil' is used. Like you're primary teachers tutting cos a little kid has scribbled on a book or something.

I've spoilt my votes in the past - I don't draw a cock and balls on the paper, I'm not that artistic. I really don't see the problem with it - to me spoiling a vote is just as much a part of the democratic process as voting for a party just because your parents/friends/newspapers/ MN steers you towards it.
Personally I find people that vote for the "best of a bad bunch" lazy and complicit in the poor choice of candidates that are put forward time after time - they're giving parties a mandate for no reason, but just like spoiling a vote thats a personal choice.

Spoiling a ballot paper makes no difference in this election.

What it does do however is identify next time there is an election where the parties need to focus their efforts.

My constituency is a safe Tory seat. If there is a significant amount of spoiled ballots though, the next time there is an election the Labour party will identify that there are a large number of people in my constituency who are engaged with the process but who did not have a candidate they felt they could vote for. So they will up their game.

I live in the Speaker's constituency. I spoil my vote because it doesn't count for anything anyway. (The convention is that the main parties don't stand against him so we usually get a collection of nutters and oddbods.)

I didn't want throwing out of the poll booth when I drew a cock and balls on the PCC for SYP ballot.
Or I would've coloured in too.

After Rotherham cse I was a bit cross about it.

A young man drew a cock on his paper but part of it was over the box for the conservative candidate...

How does anyone know who drew it? if he also put his name on the paper it would be invalid anyway, so it wouldn't have counted as a vote for anyone, and if he didn't, then unless the polling clerks were snooping over his shoulder I don't see how anyone can say who it was.

dh spoilt his ballot today - he actually wrote why he didn't vote for each candidate under their names. There honestly wasn't a candidate that he despised less than the others (would never vote Tory, won't vote for someone who makes a point of their religion, is appalled by Corbyn and won't lend him his support, if there was an independent candidate that wasn't a complete joke he'd have probably voted for them but definitely not Green). He really doesn't have the time or inclination to start his own political party and left the Labour party after being thoroughly depressed by their ineptness.

I voted Lib Dem - as an anti Brexit stance. I don't agree with their policies particularly & only voted that way because I know it won't count in a safe Tory seat (if there was any chance of Tim being PM I'd've voted differently!) ... I don't think dh's non-vote was worth any less than my pointless protest vote.

I spoiled my vote today. For me it was to show that I'm not apathetic and do care about the political process, but I don't think any of the candidates come remotely close to representing my view (Leave voter, economic centre-right, socially very libertarian). Initially I was going to vote Tory, as the least worst option, but I read their manifesto and just couldn't, as there were so many things there that I wholeheartedly disagree with.

I didn't draw a cock or anything like that, just put a line through all of the boxes and wrote 'NONE' across the paper. I can see why some people think it's stupid or pointless but for me it was do that or stay home. 'Cowardly' I don't accept as a criticism, though. I'm not a coward just because none of the parties, large or small, represent me.

I don't think so, no. It shows you care enough to turn up and take part but do not feel any candidate is worth your vote. I spoiled once, at the Police and Crime Comissioner elections, because I always vote but thought the whole thing was a ridiculous, wasteful farce.

Like others above I live in the speakers constituency who doesnt vote in Parliament and isn't opposed by the main parties in an election. I also spoiled my ballot, as I don't think it's fair I don't get a choice.

Her name was Emily Wilding Davison, and she did die for your right to enter that polling booth and do whatever you like with your vote.

Many years ago today in fact.

Aye and because of that I doubt she'd want me to dignify another shuffle and cover Salma

It's perfectly valid.

And the equivalent of standing outside the polling station, sticking your tongue out and going nerr nerr at everyone.

I'm sure Emily, and the man in Tiananmen Square with his carrier bag heartily approve.

It's a perfectly valid form of protest. In May's French Presidential election, 8% of papers were spoiled ballots. Millions of people took the effort to show up and register their dissatisfaction with the options presented to them, rather than be lazy arses at home.

I think that people have the right to spoil their papers and it's certainly better than not voting, however it does still rather mean leaving it up to everybody else to choose.

After all we do still have to choose.

Someone has to run the country.

If everyone spoiled their papers, we'd just have to start the whole thing all over again.

@fanny I think she was a rather dignified person tbh.

And actually it's not at all clear that she did intend to kill herself in protest - that wasn't a stated intention and she did seem to intend to be coming back, eg she had plans and a return ticket, etc. It may well have been a tragic accident.

But she would still have wanted people to go to the actual polling booths, I would think.