Spoilt ballot not counted

[ChickenPieBumFace]

I took the stand yesterday to spoil my ballot, based on self ID and women's rights. Looking online this morning in my constituency, there are no spoilt ballots. It has been categorised differently. I am fuming. There was no ambiguity. how many more protest votes have been Mis categorised deliberately?

Aren’t they rejected votes? As in no party can claim them, but they are all aware that many people engaged with the process rather than not vote.

The categorization of ballots is laid out here: www.electoralcommission.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf_file/UKPE-doubtfuls-booklet.pdf

There is no official category for 'protest votes' or 'spoiled ballots'.

(See examples 21 and 24 in particular).

A spoilt ballot wouldn't be counted - they're discarded.

Anyway, given that the vote counters are supposed to look for any indication of a preference, they may we'll have taken your paper to be a vote for Andy as that's the one you put a cross in. I've never done vote counting, so I could be wrong.

Possibly counted as a vote for Andy.

Spoiled ballots aren’t recorded separately but they do count the number of invalid papers for any reason. Where ballots like yours do make a difference is at the count where scrutineers from the parties can see what people have written. I have been to counts and I know they do make notes about this, even if it is just practical things like the number of voters in local elections who do not use all their votes. Personally, I think we should have a ‘none of the above category’, as I think they do in Australia but they have compulsory voting there too.

We told you that's how spoiled ballots are treated!

I'm sorry you're disappointed, but you shouldn't really be surprised. Yes, it's a total waste of time.

Used to work at counts, that would of been counted for ‘Andy’ on the bases that there was a cross in the name box.

This is what happens unfortunately

That’s not how you spell penises.

@riddley
I just spat my tea out laughing 😂☕

I was thinking the same thing

They're not counted as a vote, but they are logged:

(4) The returning officer shall draw up a statement showing the number of ballot
papers rejected under the several heads of –
(a) want of official mark;
(b) voting for more than one candidate;
(c) writing or mark by which voter could be identified; and
(d) unmarked or void for uncertainty.

Oh, and according to the examples in that document, if you'd have counted it for Andy you would have been clearly making a fraudulent count.

I read that there was a very specific way to spoil your vote. It's not counted until the word None is written on it and a line crossing out all of the check boxes. Papers with other words are thrown away.

Having said that, quite a few people here have said they don't look at them and they are chucked.

I found the guide posted above very interesting- absolutely no way that would be counted as a vote for Andy if following it.

Agree - that's definitely not a vote for Andy.

I spoiled mine too.

I’ve been watching the spoiled ballot threads but given my job have been too scared to post until the election was over. I work at the count. The spoiled papers are counted and are spilt into Four categories as @TreestumpsAndTrampolines has listed above. The number of spoiled papers is read out during the declaration on the night and are published on each election constituency website. Eg see link here for no of spoiled ballots in Joanna Cherry’s constituency: www.edinburgh.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/13209/edinburgh_south_west.pdf

I saw several spoiled ballot papers last night which mentioned self-ID/woman’s rights. To those women: thank you. People saw. Candidates. Their agents. Activists and Councillors from all the parties. The management of the Council. People who are going make decisions.

@Tanith I honestly don’t think it was a total waste of time. Yes, nationally I won’t make an impact. But at local level I really hope it could. The people in the halls last night have power on this issue. Last night I heard a woman explain to someone with seniority why woman were being gaslit. She was tentative and trying not to take a side, but I could have cried as she was far braver than I was in saying gender critical thoughts out loud.

Thank you Tranwan. I've just been trying to find out what happened to mine, and where I will find out.

Do you mind if I ask why you spoilt your ballot? Was there a feeling enough people may do so as to have an effect on the result?

Tranwan my area doesn't seem to have published anything about spoilt ballots.

Sanfran, I did it because every party I might have voted for was actively prejudiced against women. They were clearly and loudly demonstrating that women should be ignored if you don't like what they are saying. I could not vote for a party willing to undermine 50% of the population.

I read that there was a very specific way to spoil your vote. It's not counted until the word None is written on it and a line crossing out all of the check boxes. Papers with other words are thrown away.

This is not correct.

Anything other than a clear single mark for one candidate will be rejected. You can do it how you like, but as OP discovered, all that gets reported is the total (so people know the overall numbers added up).

Do you mind if I ask why you spoilt your ballot? Was there a feeling enough people may do so as to have an effect on the result?

There's a lengthy thread on this on the Feminist board.

@Sprinklemetinsel I thought each area had to publish the full record of results. It may be that they’ve just not uploaded the information yet. I might be wrong on that tho. Or else if you could find a clip of your areas declaration then the number of rejected and the categories should have been read out then.

Thanks twan

Yours was probably counted as one of the 150 OP

Do you mind if I ask why you spoilt your ballot? Was there a feeling enough people may do so as to have an effect on the result?

I did it because I am politically engaged but there were serious, fundamental issues with each party (who had a candidate standing in my constituency) that I could not in all conscience overlook and just vote for the 'least worst'. I wasn't bothered about making a difference to the final count or in being part of a media story picked up about spoiled ballots or anything like that - it was about my own personal political principles and integrity.