#IMadeMyMark: Spoiling to have your say

SPOILT ballots, by their definition, are votes which cannot be counted since the voter’s intention is unclear.

According to the IEC, the rules governing voting determine how and when votes are not counted: if voters have not clearly made their choice on their ballot.

According to statistics reported on in the media, the percentage of spoilt votes since 1994 has fluctuated with less than one percent of the total vote in 1994 having been counted as spoiled, 1,55 per cent in the 1999 elections, 1,58 per cent in the 2004 elections and a small decline of 1,34 per cent in the 2009 election statistics.

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Whether there is a difference between voters who don’t turn out at the polls on election day, and spoiled ballots was rather confusingly described by the IEC on its Facebook page shortly before the last election:

“A spoilt or invalid vote is accounted for in the reconciliation of ballot papers in each voting station. but has no bearing on the aggregation of valid votes. Thus, for the person who casts a ballot that is ultimately deemed as invalid, the weight of the effort is the same as that of a person who has not turned out to vote regardless of whether such a person has registered to vote or not.”

A valid ballot paper is one which reflects the intentions of the voter unambiguously. Conversely, a vote is defined as “spoilt” or “invalid” if the counting official is unable to clearly determine the intention of the voter.”

• Spoilt votes are tallied.
• If you don’t want to choose a political party, but still want to make your vote count, you can spoil your vote.
• Voters who spoil their votes intentionally usually hope to make a statement and is a democratic right. But does it make your voice heard?
• A spoilt vote could mean voters appreciate taking part in the democratic process although there isn’t a party they wish to support.
• The problem is the reason votes are spoilt is not known as well as how many votes are spoilt in error versus those intentionally spoilt. However,  if the spoilt number rises substantially, there is a message sent, no matter how unclear.
• In the last election, 239 000 ballots were spoilt.
• In South Africa, people fought long and hard to vote so some feel that spoiling a vote is disrespectful.

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