Over 100k ballots spoiled

[OhHolyJesus]

Info on spoilt ballots being gathered

(Haven't seen a thread i this so thought I'd share)

https://medium.com/@hatpinwoman/spoiling-for-a-vote-7c632e9752e4

I've no idea show this compares to previous elections but I imagine this is a high number by most elections standards.

Anyone have any historical figures on this?

I wonder what the general message was

wish we could find out how

Fascinating. All historical data is also available on council websites. In my own constituency the number increased by 30 or 40, so not hugely significant I would have thought.

Tory majority.

That is the general message isn’t it?

Leeds North East 531- flipping heck that seems high- i'm thinking there might be a lot of pissed off women (and their partners!) around these parts (so why are all my fb friends so bloody woke?!)- thank you- I don't feel so alone.

I know that the number of spoiled ballots in my constituency was over double the number at the last election, despite a smaller turnout.

There is information about spoilt ballots for 2015 and 2017 here www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/elections-and-referendums/past-elections-and-referendums/uk-general-elections/results-and-turnout-2017-uk-general-election

They show this as %, which I assume is a % of votes cast. Dont have time now but could at sometime in the future work it out.

However on the Protest Votes Count web site it says spoilt ballots in 2015 was nearly 100,000 www.votenone.org.uk/spoilt-ballot-results-2015.html

And as the earlier link shows not much difference in 2015 and 2017 it seems to imply that the number of spoilt ballots doesn't vary that much per election.

From a quick google, Roughly the same as 2015 and both a bit higher than 2017, so not a significant change in numbers. I suppose the key thing is the reason (where there is a reason and not just a mistake) and whether there is an increase in spoilt votes spoilt due to one particular issue. But I don’t suppose there’s any info on that as there are set categories for spoilt ballots.

I think this election is going to knock previous ones into a cocked hat because it’s already more than 100,000 and I haven’t heard back yet from a LOT of constituencies (who didn’t pop it on their website). With a rough average of 150 spoiled per constituency so far, assuming that holds, it’s going to climb quite a bit. I’m reckoning another 15, 000 at this point.

0.3 percent of voters spoiling a ballot was considered higher than usual in a previous general election. So when I’ve collected all of the information, someone good at maths working out what percentage it is might be helpful.

Also, although it was nearly 100,000 in a previous recent general election, I’ve found years before that where it was 25,000 so I think dissatisfaction with our politicians over the last decade has just been so much higher.

Ooh and the best thing I’ve heard so far from one council is that one voter tore all the corners off their ballot as their way of spoiling it 😂

@Judashascomeintosomemoney they do break it down by categories on some websites, there’s four possible ways a vote is categories as spoiled, but none of them are actually tell you either way if someone just had a mad moment or was protesting. I’d imagine mishaps are a fairly consistent and low number, so increases suggest protest.

Wasn't there a big spoiled ballot movement last GE over Brexit? Maybe that has decreased and been replaced?

305 in my constituency. 0.6%.

I wonder if there are more spoilt ballots in areas where there is a larger amount of people who speak little English. I've heard from two friends that their parents, who don't speak English, accidentally spoilt their ballot papers as they misunderstood for to fill them in.

*how

A number of my colleagues spoilt their ballots papers. It had bugger-all to do with gender identity. They simply didn’t feel they could vote for any of the main parties. If there is a high proportion of spoilt ballot papers I suspect it’s for this reason.

Where is the info recorded...? Can’t find it on the Leeds CC site.

@Angryresister the info for Leeds is here

www.leeds.gov.uk/your-council/elections/parliamentary-general-election-results

They simply didn’t feel they could vote for any of the main parties

~One of the reasons people felt no party spoke for them was the self ID issue.

Thank you hatpin woman Interesting that there were so many more in Leeds north east.. I wonder why.

I think it was 93600 approx in 2017 and 139200 approx in 2015.

I had hoped this election would make people who were blinding supporting labour or the libdems realise that they lived in a bit of a bubble, as actually talking to people on the street pretty much signaled a landslide Tory win.
But i think it's a bit optimistic to think that, their gap with the public is going to just keep getting bigger and bigger isn't it.

There's no message. Sorry but Nobody cares. No one will pay any attention.

Tories - busy running the country
Other parties - licking their wounds and running leadership elections.

Why should they care about a tiny percentage who spoiled their papers? They've all got bigger concerns.

Why should they care about a tiny percentage who spoiled their papers?

They should be concerned about the voters they've lost. Long term voters who turned away from them.

If they can't win back long time voters how are they ever going to get back into power?

A small number who spoiled ballots over an issue may give clues to a larger number who held their noses and voted anyway, or who voted for a different party when they'd usually vote for you.

Wasn't there a big spoiled ballot movement last GE over Brexit? Maybe that has decreased and been replaced?

I think that was the case - in May's local elections too, where it made every paper.

www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1122727/Brexiteers-local-elections-council-vote-spoil-ballots-Brexit

Leeds North East probably has noting to do with gender critical spoiling. There is a large Jewish population in the area who have traditionally voted labour but who felt unable to in this election. Added to that, the Tory candidate very recently made some anti Semitic comments. So the large Jewish population either moved to Lib Dem or spoiled. Incidentally, labour got in as they have for the last 30 or so years.