Separating rejected ballots from spoiled ballots is
important as the significance of these ballots is very different. Mixing them
may seriously impact the audit trail.
Spoiled Ballots
Spoiled
ballots should never find their way into the ballot box. A spoiled ballot is
generally one that a voter has inadvertently spoiled by marking it incorrectly;
it is handed back to the voting station officers in exchange for a new blank
ballot that is then marked by the voter and placed in the ballot box.
Rejected Ballots
A rejected ballot is one that has made its way into the
ballot box, but has been rejected at the count because it was improperly
marked, or is not marked at all when a mark is required. The most common
criteria to reject a ballot are:
- a ballot with no mark,
- a ballot with a mark for more than one candidate or
political party when only one was supposed to be chosen,
- an unofficial mark according to the law or unusual marks,
- a ballot marked so the voter could be identified, or
- a ballot marked in a location prohibited by legislation
(outside the circle, etc.)
- a ballot that does not clearly reflect the choice of the
voter.
In some jurisdictions, blank ballots (ballots with no
marks) are counted separately (and may be considered as protest votes), in
others, they are considered to be rejected ballots. In all cases, all ballots
are to be kept, and none should be destroyed.
Ballot Envelopes
In countries using envelopes, since marks are not made on the ballot
itself, the way to identify a rejected ballot from a valid ballot is different.
For example, a rejected ballot will be an envelope with two ballots, an empty
envelope, or a ballot in an envelope marked in a way that the secrecy of the
voter is compromised.
In many jurisdictions, if the
intention of the voter is clear, all types of marks can be accepted. In others,
the legislation is very clear on which specific types of marks are to be
accepted, even on a write-in ballot.
For
these specific cases, those marks should be clearly demonstrated during the
training of counting officers and documented in their manual or in the
operational guidelines in order to help the counting officer in making his/her
decision.
A card
summarizing the marks that are to be accepted or rejected, with pictures of
sample ballots showing those marks are a very useful tool that can be inserted
in the counting officer’s kit. In addition, a poster displaying the very same
information at the voting stations could prove useful, both for counting
officials and for voters.
