What is a spoilt ballot and what happens when someone does it?

The UK will hold a referendum on July 4 to choose the person who will represent them in parliament.

The issue that remains, though, is what one should do if they disagree with any candidate's policies.

There are two options you can take.

Naturally, abstaining from voting is the first option, but there is also another, more efficient way for people to voice their political disapproval: tampering with votes.

At least that’s what Sadiq Khan said he would do in the Rochdale by-election in February.

The Mayor of London was speaking in response to the Labour party's rejection of a previous nominee, Azhar Ali, after he made controversial remarks about Gaza.

Khan told the News Agents podcast, “because I believe in democracy and I believe in voting and the sacrifices made, I would go and vote. I would go to the polling station and I would probably spoil my ballot paper”.

George Galloway, a former Labour MP who defected from the party during the Iraq war, is the current incumbent, for the Workers’ Party.

His main opposition in the general election is Labour’s new candidate, Paul Waugh, a senior political journalist who grew up in Rochdale.

What does it mean to ‘spoil’ a ballot?

A spoiled ballot is a voting card that has been filled out improperly on purpose.

Vote tampering is not prohibited by law and can take several different forms. On the other hand, there are specific methods by which a deliberately spoiled ballot could be counted.

How do people generally do it?

Upon receiving your ballot – whether in person or via mail – you can spoil it by writing a private note, placing an X where it shouldn't be, drawing a big X across the page, or leaving it blank.

Identifying yourself by writing down personal information, like your address, is another technique to tamper with an election.

In order to achieve this goal of perceived voter indistinguishability, all "doubtful ballots" are arranged separately and placed on a tray for finalisation.

Nevertheless, if you put another symbol – like an exclamation point or smiley face – in the box next to a candidate's name instead of an X, the vote can still be tallied.

What happens if a ballot is spoilt?

When ballots are counted, a spoilt vote is often rejected, meaning it won’t count towards anything.

How many spoilt ballots were there at previous elections?

During the 2015 elections, spoilt votes made up 0.3 per cent.

The same year, not voting took up the largest category, with a third of registered voters not voting (nearly 16 million).

It is not known how many spoiled their vote during the 2019 general election, but it was most likely an increase from 2015 due to many demanding to take the UK out of the EU.