Spoiled Ballot
Spoiled Ballot: A ballot which has been mistakenly marked or altered by a voter.
Definition
A ballot which has been mistakenly marked or altered by a voter. A spoiled ballot is not cast, and the voter may request a new ballot to mark correctly.
Alternative Definitions
- Definition 2
A ballot that has been issued to a voter but will not be cast, usually because it has been incorrectly marked or impaired in some way.
- Definition 3
A spoiled ballot will not count in an election. It is a ballot (optical scan, absentee, emergency or provisional) that a voter returns to election officials to cancel after he or she has made an error. The concepts of “cancellation” and “spoiled ballot” are often linked, in that statutory limits on the number of ballots a voter may spoil are sometimes interpreted as applying to the number of cancellations a voter can make on a DRE, and especially, a DRE equipped with a VVPAT.
- Definition 4
A ballot that: (a) is spoiled by the voter; (b) is unable to be voted because it was spoiled by the printer or the election judge; or (c) lacks the official endorsement. Utah Code §20A-1- 102(70). “Any voter who spoils his paper ballo t or ballot card may return it and secure a replacement, but not more than twice.” Wyo. Stat. §22-11-105. Most states have similar limits on the number of ballots that a voter may spoil. A “ballot that has been voted but will not be cast.” 2005 VVSG GLOSSARY. This definition is more rest rictive since it does not include ballots spoiled in printing.