Have you spoilt your ballot? A thread to indicate numbers

[Chrysanthemum5]

Hi all
I've just posted my vote. I live in a constituency where the incumbent has a big majority, and will win again. He is the only one people have posters up for, the only one really sending out leaflets etc everyone else has given up. He is Labour, and full on TWAW, insists there is no conflict with women's rights and refused to talk to me about this issue. The other candidates are the usual mix of Tory and Greens with a sprinkling of independents and Reform.

Politically speaking I am Labour, and always have been. But their attitude towards the rights of women is shocking. To be fair I grew up in a family heavily involved in unions so I always knew the unions were misogynistic but Labour seemed ok. Not any more.

If you have spoilt your ballot it would be interesting to know so that we can see (and maybe politicians can see) what women are thinking

Spoiling votes is a protest only to you. No-one else will recognise that you have done it, and for women as politically involved and able as you seem to be, it does seem a waste. Use your vote.

I've also worked as a scrutineer before (in another country, but the process is quite similar) and each ballot is looked over during the count before being placed in a box. The spoiled ballots are put aside. Nothing is read - in the digested context of the term - there simply isn't time for that. The pressure is on to count the votes for the constituency and make the returns.

Spoiling your vote is totally legitimate. Especially when you have red lines meaning there's nobody to vote for.

The reason there's nobody to vote for is because of our political engagement. We aren't blindly / tribally voting for no other reason than we've always voted for that party. I'd say blindly loyal voting isn't showing political awareness, critical thinking or virtue, as some on the left appear to think on this board.

Dont know about this particular election, but the last few have been counted the next day.
Its cheaper, it's often easier to get staff.

So unless this goes back to counting through the night, theres no rush.

the Ballot papers only go to people who are being paid £10 an hour to count the ballots

It’s £30 an hour here.

The point is the spoilt papers are counted, and so recorded.

I'm in Scotland and will do the same as you because in my constituency at least I know that the candidates (or their teams) are all shown the individual spoiled ballots and a friend had a picture of their ballot in the local paper after they wrote a message of protest on it to spoil it.

And once again. Spoiling your vote is using your vote. It’s using it to signal that you were engaged enough to vote, but didn’t like any of the options.

I’m intrigued who you think people should cast their vote for if they can’t support any of the candidates standing.

And see upthread for the suggested implications of a massive increase in spoilt papers.

The count will be over night in my constituency. And £27 per hour.

General election votes are always counted overnight.

Other elections, such as local elections and by-elections, the votes may be counted overnight or the next day.

Is it Sunderland that always race to be first? Definitely somewhere in the NE!

I see we have all the usual misrepresentations of and about spoiled ballots. Have a look at electoral law and the actual procedure and who examines and sees them: the returning officer or deputy returning officer, the candidates, and their agents. The ballots are then formally adjudicated upon as to type of spoiled ballot, and counted. The tally is published.

Where I live there have been elections for key council seats won on tiny minorities (as small as 2), with more spoiled ballots than the winning margin. Damn right the losing candidate remembers those spoiled ballots opposing a controversial planning decision.

I see we have all the usual misrepresentations of and about spoiled ballots.

Why are they so keen to get us to go and vote for a party we don't agree with (if any colour)? Bearing in mind that on other threads Labour supporters are confident of a 'super majority' / landslide, surely it doesn't matter whether we do or don't vote, it won't affect the result.

I think there is some concern over the 'don't knows' swinging marginals, potentially. Especially as there's quite a high number of those right now.

This is a GE, they’re definitely counting through the night. Our local authority has just finished recruiting staff to do it.

I do hear you and what you say are fair points NefertitiV.

However, I've lived in my constituency for a very long time. As an old and former Labour acitivist I've attended most all of the counts in the past as an observer. Both local and national elections.

I know how things operate at our count and I know that there's a lot of attention paid to spoiled votes, mostly in the hope that candidates can agree on them. But they are read, and patterns noticed. Brexit was very interesting for the tellers here, and also the local press who hover about at these things.

I can't vote Tory due to their attitudes around the sick and disabled and Rwanda. I'm not voting Reform. If there were an SDP candidate I think I'd vote for them.

Starmer using Brianna Ghey's death once again last night (you may not have seen the programme) to have a cheap shot at Sunak, convinced me that he doesn't actually care about respecting that murdered child's family either. Brianna was used to divert the focus of a debate with Sunak. Starmer should have taken Sunak out with reasoned argument. His lack of awareness and control on that shocked me. Talk about show me who you are.

Not voting isn't something I favour, so with a heavy heart I feel, for me, spoiling will be my only way. I'm off out to post my papers in a mo.

I didn't watch the debate (100% decided on not voting for either Labour or Tory, and had work to do instead!), but Starmer once again using Brianna Ghey's murder for political gains is sickening. It's such an obvious and shitty "gotcha" to use! Urgh, that man!

Yeah fair enough. I didn't know. I just remember the last few I think a local and a police one were counted the next day.

@BackToLurk

And once again. Spoiling your vote is using your vote. It’s using it to signal that you were engaged enough to vote, but didn’t like any of the options.
But you're not voting or using your vote.*
*
I’m intrigued who you think people should cast their vote for if they can’t support any of the candidates standing.
The only strategy I'd recommend (and one that I use) is to remember the preferential voting system. From www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/voting-systems/:

'The candidate with the fewest first preference votes who do not achieve the quota are eliminated. Voters who voted for an eliminated candidate then have their votes transferred to their second preference. The process of transferring surpluses and second (or third, fourth, and so on) preferences continues until all vacant seats have been filled.'

What? We have first past the post. If you live in a safe seat and vote for anyone other than the incumbent your vote is 'wasted'. Your vote has no impact on the result. You may as well not bother.

If you live in a marginal and don't want to vote for any of the parties in the running, your vote is 'wasted'. For example you live in a Tory/LibDem marginal & vote Labour who come a poor third, your vote is wasted.. In these circumstances you could vote tactically, but where would a natural Labour supporter go. Evil Tories or full on Gender Warriors LibDems?

Not turning up is not using your vote

We dont have this.
We have first past the post.

Literally the most votes wins.

I live in Scotland and have reluctantly voted Labour as in my constituency they have a good chance of getting the awful SNP out
However I have done it with a heavy heart - I genuinely wanted to spoil my paper and write "none of the above"

Good job we're politically engaged enough to know the voting system we have here!

That truly was a shit choice!

So we seem to have ploppers coming to spout shite when they havent even researched our voting system?

Slow fucking handclap for them.

I had to go check what system we had in place. Cos I was befuddled.

So no knowledge of how they count / record spoilt votes here or, apparently, how we vote. Sounds like somebody to take advice from!

Votes are recorded as valid or invalid.

The valid votes are recorded for each candidate, in numbers and percentage vote share.

I can find no record of a breakdown of invalid votes.

Here's s random example from Cardiff North in 2019.
https://electionresults.parliament.uk/elections/1413

To the pp who picked me up re my vote, I'd assumed you to be a Brit abroad when answering you earlier.

You don't understand our voting system at all it now seems, so your knowledge of how the ballot count goes, isn't based on what happens in England Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland.

I don't think I'd ever feel it my place to interrupt a discussion on or offline tell the women of another country, how they should be voting, even within these isles.