blank ballot
Empty election paper
A blank ballot is a ballot cast without marking any choices.
Voters submit blank ballots as a form of protest—rejecting all candidates while still participating in the electoral process.
Some jurisdictions count blank ballots separately from abstentions, treating them as a deliberate statement of dissatisfaction: The election saw an unusually high number of blank ballots.
- unmarkedHaving no visible identification
- abstainDeliberately not do
- voidWithout legal effect
- spoiledRuined or overindulged
- protestPublic expression of disapproval
no confidence · election · voter · booth · polling station · paper · envelope · box · cast · polling · democracy · choice · undecided · voting booth · null · write-in · undervote · privacy
- votesvote, yea, nay, aye, yes vote
- ballots
- political apathyvoter apathy, political apathy, nonvoting, non-voting, low turnout
- votingvote, voters, voter, polls, candidates