Undervote
Anundervoteoccurs when the number of distinct choices selected by a voter in a contest is less than the maximum number allowed for a contest or when no selection is made for a particular election.[1]Undervotes can be intentional or unintentional.[2]
An undervote can be intentional for purposes includingprotest votes,tactical voting,orabstention.In a contested election, an undervote can be construed as active voter disaffection: a voter engaged enough to cast a vote without the willingness to give the vote to any candidate.[2]Undervotes can also occur if a voter casting a ballot does not make choices in all available contests. An example is if, during a presidential election, a voter chooses a presidential candidate but does not select a candidate for a concurrently running election for county commissioner.[3]
Alternately, undervotes can be unintentional and caused by many factors including poorballot design.Undervotes caused by voting for a single candidate in multiple positions is usually caused by a voter's misunderstanding of the mechanics of the preference ballot.[4][2]
Undervotes combined withovervotes(known asresidual votes) can be an academic indicator in evaluating the accuracy of a voting system when recordingvoterintent.[4]
References[edit]
- ^"2005 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines".Election Assistance Commission.p. A-18. Archived fromthe originalon 13 June 2008.Retrieved3 November2023.
- ^abc"WNT: Explaining the Undervotes".ABC News.30 November 2000. Archived fromthe originalon 9 November 2020.
- ^Bump, Philip (14 December 2016)."1.7 million people in 33 states and DC cast a ballot without voting in the presidential race".The Washington Post.Archived fromthe originalon 14 December 2016.
- ^abAlvarez, R. Michael; Katz, Jonathan N.; Hill, Jonathan N. (September 20, 2005)."Machines Versus Humans: The Counting and Recounting of Pre-scored Punchcard Ballots"(PDF).VTP Working Paper #32.Caltech/MITVoting Technology Project. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 11 November 2013.Retrieved2008-06-12.
External links[edit]
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