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| Police commissioner elections: high rates of spoilt ballot papers recorded | Police commissioner elections: high rates of spoilt ballot papers recorded |
| (3 days later) | |
| Unusually high rates of spoilt ballot papers have been recorded in the police and crime commissioner elections amid suggestions that there has been a co-ordinated online campaign to protest at the poll taking place. | Unusually high rates of spoilt ballot papers have been recorded in the police and crime commissioner elections amid suggestions that there has been a co-ordinated online campaign to protest at the poll taking place. |
| The Conservative candidate Angus Macpherson became the first police commissioner in Wiltshire on a turnout of just 15.3% – of which 3.3% (2,682) were invalid. | The Conservative candidate Angus Macpherson became the first police commissioner in Wiltshire on a turnout of just 15.3% – of which 3.3% (2,682) were invalid. |
| The elections expert Prof John Curtice told the Radio 4 Today programme that while the two-vote system tended to result in more invalid votes than the first-past-the-post system, the level of spoilt votes in Wiltshire "raised eyebrows" about whether some voters were deliberately spoiling their ballot papers to indicate their dissatisfaction with the process of electing PCCs. | The elections expert Prof John Curtice told the Radio 4 Today programme that while the two-vote system tended to result in more invalid votes than the first-past-the-post system, the level of spoilt votes in Wiltshire "raised eyebrows" about whether some voters were deliberately spoiling their ballot papers to indicate their dissatisfaction with the process of electing PCCs. |
| The 2010 general election, fought under first past the post, saw 0.3% of the total votes cast rejected. In the 2012 London mayoral election – fought under the supplementary vote system used in the PCC elections – there were 1.8% rejected ballot papers. | The 2010 general election, fought under first past the post, saw 0.3% of the total votes cast rejected. In the 2012 London mayoral election – fought under the supplementary vote system used in the PCC elections – there were 1.8% rejected ballot papers. |
| Curtice said of the Wiltshire result: "It raises the question whether some people didn't simply fail to cast a vote because they were confused by the system, but maybe some people amongst that minuscule 15.8% who turned out went to the polling station and said: 'Hang on, let's spoil that ballot paper to declare we don't think the whole thing is a terribly good idea.' " | Curtice said of the Wiltshire result: "It raises the question whether some people didn't simply fail to cast a vote because they were confused by the system, but maybe some people amongst that minuscule 15.8% who turned out went to the polling station and said: 'Hang on, let's spoil that ballot paper to declare we don't think the whole thing is a terribly good idea.' " |
| Later in the day, a PCC election decided by the first past the post system appeared to shore up the sense that a strategy of deliberately spoiling votes was at play among some sections of the electorate. | Later in the day, a PCC election decided by the first past the post system appeared to shore up the sense that a strategy of deliberately spoiling votes was at play among some sections of the electorate. |
| In Dyfed-Powys the figure for rejected votes was 4.3% on a turnout of 16.38%. The election, won by Conservative Christopher Salmon, was one of three areas fought under the first past the post system because there were only two candidates. | |
| Comparing early indications of the percentage of rejected votes to previous elections, Dr Alan Renwick. an election expert from the University of Reading's School of Politics and International Relations, said: "We will need more results across the country to draw a firm conclusion, but it appears likely that deliberate spoiling of ballots has taken place in this election to a greater degree than has ever occurred in a national election in the UK before." | Comparing early indications of the percentage of rejected votes to previous elections, Dr Alan Renwick. an election expert from the University of Reading's School of Politics and International Relations, said: "We will need more results across the country to draw a firm conclusion, but it appears likely that deliberate spoiling of ballots has taken place in this election to a greater degree than has ever occurred in a national election in the UK before." |
| Last month the former Met chief Sir Ian Blair urged the public to boycott the elections in the 41 police force areas across England and Wales outside London, saying the only way to stop the proposal was to refuse to take part in the elections. | Last month the former Met chief Sir Ian Blair urged the public to boycott the elections in the 41 police force areas across England and Wales outside London, saying the only way to stop the proposal was to refuse to take part in the elections. |
| But many opposed to the elections suggested that rather than staying away or binning their postal vote, they would participate to give voice to their opposition, among them the Guardian's John Harris. | But many opposed to the elections suggested that rather than staying away or binning their postal vote, they would participate to give voice to their opposition, among them the Guardian's John Harris. |
| Many voters who spoiled their votes published examples of their handywork on social media. One ballot paper for the Sussex PCC election had writing scrawled across it, saying: "Where was my vote when you decided to get rid of county level police authorities? This election is not democratic. It's bullshit." | Many voters who spoiled their votes published examples of their handywork on social media. One ballot paper for the Sussex PCC election had writing scrawled across it, saying: "Where was my vote when you decided to get rid of county level police authorities? This election is not democratic. It's bullshit." |
| On the Guardian website readers were discussing spoiling votes "tactically" to register their dissatisfaction. djandyp wrote on the Guardian on Thursday: "I got to the polling station at 8.20am. I was the fifth voter, a sixth came in as I left. The staff were not expecting a busy day. I spoiled my ballot paper by writing: 'No to Police Commissioners, yes to democracy' on mine. For good measure I listed some bullet point reasons! – Undemocratic, a waste of public money, don't politicise the police. I have always voted in every election since I was 18. I will not stay at home and not vote. I wanted to positively state that I do not approve of the PCC role although I'm sure some will see this as a wasted vote." | On the Guardian website readers were discussing spoiling votes "tactically" to register their dissatisfaction. djandyp wrote on the Guardian on Thursday: "I got to the polling station at 8.20am. I was the fifth voter, a sixth came in as I left. The staff were not expecting a busy day. I spoiled my ballot paper by writing: 'No to Police Commissioners, yes to democracy' on mine. For good measure I listed some bullet point reasons! – Undemocratic, a waste of public money, don't politicise the police. I have always voted in every election since I was 18. I will not stay at home and not vote. I wanted to positively state that I do not approve of the PCC role although I'm sure some will see this as a wasted vote." |
| On Friday, another reader, using the name Evilsprout, wrote: "I spoiled my ballot in the end, because I was totally uninspired by the candidates – all were party affiliated and three out of five of them were so ridiculously underqualified for the role that if it was a normal job application situation I'd have been staggered if they'd even be asked for interview. This is not a role that should be party political. The electorate didn't ask for it. And people were given such little information that they didn't feel qualified to vote on it. It was ridiculous." | On Friday, another reader, using the name Evilsprout, wrote: "I spoiled my ballot in the end, because I was totally uninspired by the candidates – all were party affiliated and three out of five of them were so ridiculously underqualified for the role that if it was a normal job application situation I'd have been staggered if they'd even be asked for interview. This is not a role that should be party political. The electorate didn't ask for it. And people were given such little information that they didn't feel qualified to vote on it. It was ridiculous." |
| Another reader, puljon, wrote: "Both my husband and I spoiled our voting papers. Utterly shambolic elections." | Another reader, puljon, wrote: "Both my husband and I spoiled our voting papers. Utterly shambolic elections." |
| X Factor v PCC | X Factor v PCC |
| A total of 15,488,019 votes were cast during the 2010 edition of The X Factor, equivalent to 23.18% of those eligible to vote – one and a half times higher than the average turnout in PCC elections. In The X Factor, however, individuals are able to cast multiple votes, creating a slightly misleading picture. | A total of 15,488,019 votes were cast during the 2010 edition of The X Factor, equivalent to 23.18% of those eligible to vote – one and a half times higher than the average turnout in PCC elections. In The X Factor, however, individuals are able to cast multiple votes, creating a slightly misleading picture. |
| The bookmaker Paddy Power was offering odds of 4-5 that a higher proportion of the UK population tuned into Friday's instalment of I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! than voted in the PCC elections. With turnout at 15% in the elections, an average audience of 10 million people would have needed to tune into the show for the bookie to pay out; 10.6 million tuned into last week's opening episode. John Burn-Murdoch | The bookmaker Paddy Power was offering odds of 4-5 that a higher proportion of the UK population tuned into Friday's instalment of I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! than voted in the PCC elections. With turnout at 15% in the elections, an average audience of 10 million people would have needed to tune into the show for the bookie to pay out; 10.6 million tuned into last week's opening episode. John Burn-Murdoch |
| • This article was amended on 19 November 2012. The original referred to Dwfed-Powys, rather than Dyfed-Powys. This has been corrected. |