Protest vote

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A Protest vote is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate the caster's unhappiness with the choice of candidates or the current political system. It can be formulated in several ways:

Voting for a minority or fringe candidate which has no chance of getting elected under normal situation. See below
Posting a blank ballot paper, without marking a choice.
Spoiling the ballot paper.
Selecting a "None of the Above", or "Blank vote" option, if one exists.

However, some jurisdictions may give different interpretations to each of the methods mentioned above.

Sometimes, a person may use even more uncommon, often illegal, methods to show the displeasure. Example include ripping the ballot apart, asking other people to vote for them,selling the vote (for example, putting his vote on auction sites), or even eating the ballot.

Some people see refusing to turn out to vote at all as a protest vote, especially in places, like Australia, which have compulsory voting, where not voting is an act of civil disobedience.

Voting for a fringe candidate can result in election/endorsement of people whom the general population would rather not see in that position. e.g. Jean-Marie Le Pen in French presidential election, 2002.

In the United States, cartoon characters are typically used as protest votes; as Mickey Mouse is the most well-known and well-recognized character in the United States, his name is frequently selected for this purpose. (Other popular selections include Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny.) This phenomenon has the humorous effect of causing Mickey Mouse to be a minor but perennial contestor of nearly all recent U.S. presidential elections.

A similar phenomenon occurs in the parliamentary elections in Finland, although Finns usually write Donald Duck as a protest vote because Donald is more famous in Finland than Mickey. Other characters, both real and fictional, are used as protest votes too. One theory has it that the reason for boxer/politician Tony Halme's popularity in one of the elections was because he was being used as a protest vote. Somewhat ironically, this might mean that protest votes actually got someone elected.

Protest vote

See also