Invalid Votes

Generally accepted principles stipulate that the following categories of votes often be regarded as invalid and should not be counted: 

• votes that are blank (there is no marking on the ballot),
• votes that identify the voter,
• votes that contain markings for more than one choice (this depends upon the electoral system used and will be expected where the voter has to make more than one choice or rank his or her choices),
• votes that do not clearly reflect the intention or choice of the voter. 

This last category of invalid vote is often very difficult to evaluate and assess and it may be open to different interpretations depending on who the counting officer is. It is thus important that the training of counting officers includes documentation (visuals) of ballot markings that are valid and those that are not valid.

The overall rule that should be followed is whether the counting officer can reasonably determine the intention of the voter. An example of such would be when a voter, instead of placing a mark next to his or her intended choice, writes “yes” next to the party or candidate’s name. This could reasonably be seen as an intention to vote for that party or candidate.

The rules for criteria to determine a valid vote need to be clear, yet the counting officer who makes the decision whether to accept a ballot or not should not apply the rules dogmatically, but should allow for a degree of flexibility if the voter’s intention can be reasonably assessed.