Undervote

An undervote occurs when the number of distinct choices selected by a voter in a contest is less than the minimum 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 including protest votes, tactical voting, or abstention. 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 a voter's choice, during a presidential election, of a presidential candidate but not of a candidate for a concurrently running election for county commissioner.^[3]

Alternately, undervotes can be unintentional and caused by many factors including poor ballot 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 with overvotes (known as residual votes) can be an academic indicator in evaluating the accuracy of a voting system when recording voter intent.^[4]

References

^ "2005 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines". Election Assistance Commission. p. A-18. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "WNT: Explaining the Undervotes". ABC News. 30 November 2000. Archived from the original on 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 from the original on 14 December 2016.
^ ^a ^b Alvarez, 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/ MIT Voting Technology Project. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 2008-06-12.

External links

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[EAC_def-1] "2005 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines". Election Assistance Commission. p. A-18. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2023.

[explain_undervote-2] "WNT: Explaining the Undervotes". ABC News. 30 November 2000. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020.

[wapo_1.7mil-3] 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 from the original on 14 December 2016.

[machine_v_human-4] Alvarez, 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/ MIT Voting Technology Project. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 2008-06-12.

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