Advertisement

This is what actually happens if you spoil your ballot

For the truly disenfranchised General Election voter for whom even a protest vote holds no appeal, opting to spoil the ballot paper can seem almost impossible to resist.

And it turns out spoilt papers aren’t just tossed straight into the bin.

According to Tim Shipman, political editor of the Sunday Times, it’s worth making this sort of mark a funny one, as there’s a good chance the candidates will actually see it.

General Election 2017: The latest news and political analysis from Yahoo UK

Mr Shipman’s tweet to this effect met with an interesting response from his followers, who shared their own experiences of ballot paper spoilage.

While one Lucy Powell insisted that the candidates aren’t presented with spoilt ballots, Mark Brown, Conservative councillor for the Edinburgh ward of Drum Brae/Gyle, insisted they do.

He confirmed that candidates are in fact consulted on the validity of the more imaginatively-marked ballots.

So if you’re still to vote, prepare to let your imagination run wild…

Top image: Rex