Protest Votes

PROTEST VOTES IN EUROPE
Legal Memorandum

January 2014

Protest Votes in Europe, January 2014


Executive Summary

The purpose of this memorandum is to analyze European state practice in
the use of protest voting options, which provide voters the ability to voice general
or specific dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates, the voting process itself,
or the government in general. A protest vote may also demonstrate that a voter is
indifferent to the available options, whether due to a lack of knowledge on the part
of the voter or failure by political parties to align with voter preferences. Three
countries are examined in this memo.

Protest votes may take many forms, depending on the rules and regulations
governing voting in each electoral system. For instance, voters may cast a white
vote by intentionally failing to mark the ballot or by submitting a specifically
designated ballot that lists no candidates. Voters may use white votes as an
informal protest vote option in voting systems where no official protest option
exists. Voters may also express dissatisfaction through a none of the above
(NOTA) option. When officially placed on the ballot, NOTA options limit
ambiguity associated with other methods of non-voting, such as white votes. Even
more deliberately, voters may write-in a candidate not listed on the ballot. Protest
votes may also refer to a vote that is deliberately incomplete, invalidly marked, or
submitted contrary to the electoral systems regulations. States can choose
whether to allow official protest vote options in the voting process and whether
those protest votes are recognized as such, and counted towards the election
results.

In Spain, when a voter submits an empty envelope without a ballot, it is
considered a white vote (voto en blanco). Under Spanish Election law, white votes
are tallied and counted as valid votes. As parties need to obtain a minimum
percent of valid votes to be considered eligible to receive legislative seats, white
votes may affect whether a party receives enough votes to cross the minimum
threshold.

Protest votes in France also take the form of a white vote (vote blanc), which
consists of a submitting a blank sheet of paper with no markings of any kind. The
vote blanc provides a means for voters to express dissatisfaction with the
candidates offered. After election officials have separated white votes from other
ballots, white votes are invalidated and cannot be recounted as part of the election.
In 2012, the white vote helped Francois Hollande beat incumbent President

Nicolas Sarkozy. In the vote, supporters of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen
followed her lead in casting a white vote rather than support right-of-center
Sarkozy. In doing so, Marine Le Pen effectively denied President Sarkozy votes
that likely would have been cast in his favor.

Prior to 2006, Russian voters had the option of casting a NOTA vote by
selecting the against all candidates option at the end of the list of candidates. An
election would be considered invalid if there were more against all votes than
there were votes in favor of the leading candidate. Removing the NOTA option
has had a meaningful impact on the outcome of elections, including helping current
President Vladimir Putin secure victory.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Statement of Purpose 1

Introduction 1

Types of Protest Votes 1
White Votes 2
None of the Above Option 2
Write-in Vote 4
Spoiled Ballot 5

Distinguishing Protest Votes 6

Spain 7
Protest Vote: White Vote 7
Application in Elections 7
Lessons Learned 8

France 10
Protest Vote: White Vote 10
Lessons Learned 11

Russia 13
Protest Vote: NOTA Option 13
Lessons Learned 16

Conclusion 17

1

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this memorandum is to analyze European state practice in
the use of protest voting options, which provide voters the ability to voice general
or specific dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates, the voting process itself,
or the government in general.

Introduction

In democratic institutions, some of the most significant decisions are made
by public vote, such as the election of representatives, referenda on pertinent
issues, or recall elections to remove elected officials from office.
1
In European
states, presidents and political officials are elected to office through a voting
system, which enables the general population to voice its political opinions.
Generally, voting systems promote a positive public policy by helping determine
the populations opinions regarding candidates, political parties, or the voting
system. If the voter is unhappy with the choice of candidates, the voting process
itself, or the government in general, the voter may enter a protest vote.
2
A protest
vote may also demonstrate a voters inability to find an electoral option that aligns
with his or her preferences.
3

Types of Protest Votes

Depending on the rules of the states electoral system and what the voter is
protesting, protest votes may take the form of a white vote, a none of the above
(NOTA) option, a write-in entry, or a spoiled ballot.
4
States can choose whether to
allow official protest vote options in the voting process and whether those protest
votes are counted towards the election results.
5

1
Grant M. Hayden, Abstention: The Unexpected Power of Withholding Your Vote, 43 CONNECTICUT LAW REVIEW
585, 587 (2010), available at
http://uconn.lawreviewnetwork.com/files/documents/GrantM.Hayden43Conn.L.Rev.585.pdf.
2
Grant M. Hayden, Abstention: The Unexpected Power of Withholding Your Vote, 43 CONNECTICUT LAW REVIEW
585, 58996 (2010), available at
http://uconn.lawreviewnetwork.com/files/documents/GrantM.Hayden43Conn.L.Rev.585.pdf.
3
Electronic Voting Machines Blank Vote Option, ACE PROJECT (Apr. 8, 2009), available at
http://aceproject.org/electoral-advice/archive/questions/replies/130400041.
4
Electronic Voting Machines Blank Vote Option, ACE PROJECT (Apr. 8, 2009), available at
5
Sabir Shah, Many Countries Have No Vote Provision, THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS (Feb. 26, 2013), available at
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-162214-Many-countries-have-No-Vote-provision.

2

White Votes

A white vote (also known as a blank vote) occurs when a voter intentionally
fails to mark the ballot or submits a specifically designated ballot that lists no
candidates.
6
A white vote may be cast for an entire election ballot or a single
elected function.
7

States can choose whether or not to officially consider white votes valid, or
to count them in final valid vote totals. If not an official option of the voting
system, white votes may carry the downside of resembling other methods of non-
voting, such as abstention or roll-off (i.e., when a voter makes a selection for
prestige officers but not for lower offices on the same ballot).
8
In such cases,
election officials may confuse white votes made in protest with other non-voting
options or otherwise invalid ballots.

In states that do not have compulsory voting, white votes can be a more
rigorous form of non-voting, as casting a white vote requires voters to register and
submit a ballot where they otherwise could abstain from voting.
9
In such cases,
white votes represent a more stringent form of protest than abstention or other less-
expensive and labor-intensive forms of non-voting.
10

None of the Above Option

Voters may also express dissatisfaction through a none of the above (NOTA)
option. When officially placed on the ballot, NOTA options limit ambiguity
associated with other methods of non-voting, such as white votes.
11
NOTA options
demonstrate a clear, purposeful protest vote by the voter, assuming the voter

6
Graeme Orr, The Choice Not to Choose: Commonwealth Electoral Law and the Withholding of Preferences, 23
MONASH UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 285, 29192 (1997).
7
8
R. Darcy & Anne Schneider, Confusing Ballots, Roll-Off, and the Black Vote, 12 THE WESTERN POLITICAL
QUARTERLY 347, 34950 (1989).
9
Parti Du Vote Blanc, Le Vote Blanc??: Vote Blanc, Vote Nul & Abstention (last accessed Nov. 11, 2013), available
in French at http://www.parti-du-vote-blanc.fr/comprendre/le-vote-blanc/.
10
David F. Damore, Mallory M. Waters, and Shaun Bowler, Unhappy, Uninformed, or Uninterested?:
Understanding None of the Above Voting, 65 POLITICAL RESEARCH QUARTERLY 1, 1 (2011), available at
http://faculty.unlv.edu/dfdamore/Publications/Nevada%20NOTA%20Final.pdf.
11
David F. Damore, Mallory M. Waters, & Shaun Bowler, Unhappy, Uninformed, or Uninterested?:
Understanding None of the Above Voting, 65 POLITICAL RESEARCH QUARTERLY 1, 2 (2011) ), available at

3
follows the proper directions for casting a NOTA vote.
12
In some cases, a NOTA
option can be used to invalidate elections, such as when the majority of voters
decide that none of the candidates are acceptable, thereby requiring a second
election to allow a candidate to attain at least a simple majority.
13

Even without an explicit NOTA option, voters have found ways to express
discontent with the choice of candidates.
14
For instance, in 1989, a national list
of communist-aligned candidates ran unopposed for 33 designated positions in a
national election of 460 seats.
15
Under Polish law at the time, candidates had to
obtain an absolute majority of votes cast to win.
16
Out of protest, Polish voters cast
ballots with the communist-aligned candidates crossed out, maintaining the
validity of their votes without expressing a vote for the national list candidates.
17

In doing so, voters prevented the national list candidates, including Prime
Minister Mieczyslaw Rakowski, seven other politburo members, and 25
communist-aligned candidates, from obtaining absolute majorities.
18
Embarrassed,
the Polish Communist Party was forced to replace the losing national list
candidates to fill the unopposed seats allotted to the party.
19
Today, Polish voters
can still vote against a Senate candidate running unopposed by crossing out the
name of the candidate.
20
However, the candidate with the most votes wins under
current Polish election law, making the NOTA vote purely symbolic in
significance.
21

12
Electronic Voting Machines Blank Vote Option, ACE PROJECT (Nov. 15, 2006), available at
13
James S. Robbins, Introduction: Democracy and Elections, 21 FLETCHER FORUM OF WORLD AFFAIRS 1, 9-10
(1997).
14
Sabir Shah, Many Countries Have No Vote Provision, THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS (Feb. 26, 2013), available at
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-162214-Many-countries-have-No-Vote-provision.
15
John Tagliabue, Poland Flirts with Pluralism Today, THE NEW YORK TIMES (June 4, 1989), available at
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/04/world/poland-flirts-with-pluralism-today.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm.
16
17
18
John Tagliabue, Poland Bars 8 Key Communists from Runoff Vote, THE NEW YORK TIMES (June 14, 1989),
available at http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/14/world/poland-bars-8-key-communists-from-runoff-vote.html.
19
John Tagliabue, Poland Bars 8 Key Communists from Runoff Vote, THE NEW YORK TIMES (June 14, 1989),
available at http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/14/world/poland-bars-8-key-communists-from-runoff-vote.html.
20
2011 Election Code art. 268 (Poland, 2011), available at
http://www.legislationline.org/download/action/download/id/3648/file/Poland%20Elections%20Code%20Section%
201,2,3,4,9_2011.pdf,
21
2011 Election Code art. 273 (Poland, 2011), available at
http://www.legislationline.org/download/action/download/id/3648/file/Poland%20Elections%20Code%20Section%
201,2,3,4,9_2011.pdf,

4
Because the NOTA option merely invalidates the candidate selection
without suggesting alternatives, it has been criticized as a non-constructive
solution.
22
Additionally, such an option may lead to greater indifference among
voters by discouraging them from learning about the candidates and providing an
easy out from making an informed, thoughtful decision.
23
Others contend,
however, that a NOTA option incentivizes candidates to better educate voters, as
uninformed voters may be more likely to cast a NOTA vote than vote for a
candidate whom they know nothing about.
24
By educating voters, candidates may
increase their chances of securing a victory and avoid the embarrassment of
receiving fewer votes than the NOTA option.
25

Write-in Vote

Even more deliberate, voters may write-in a candidate not listed on the
ballot.
26
Some states officially offer voters this option.
27
While both write-in and
NOTA options allow the voter to express dissatisfaction with the choice of
candidates, the write-in option allows voters to express an alternate preference.
28

Moreover, in states that include both write-in and white vote options, the inclusion
of the write-in option tends to reduce the number of white votes, suggesting that a
portion of white votes is comprised of protest votes and not simply incorrectly
submitted ballots.
29

Some ballots with write-in options have a designated space for voters to
enter their preferred candidate. In Sweden, a separate, designated write-in ballot is

22
James S. Robbins, Introduction: Democracy and Elections, 21 FLETCHER FORUM OF WORLD AFFAIRS 1, 10
(1997).
23
Electronic Voting Machines Blank Vote Option, ACE PROJECT (Nov. 15, 2006), available at
24
Christopher W. Carmichael, Proposals for Reforming the American Electoral System after the 2000 Presidential
Election: Universal Voter Registration, Mandatory Voting, and Negative Balloting, 23 HAMLINE JOURNAL OF
PUBLIC LAW & POLICY 255, 315-16 (2002).
25
Christopher W. Carmichael, Proposals for Reforming the American Electoral System after the 2000 Presidential
Election: Universal Voter Registration, Mandatory Voting, and Negative Balloting, 23 HAMLINE JOURNAL OF
PUBLIC LAW & POLICY 255, 315-16 (2002).
26
Swedish Election Authority, Elections in Sweden, 12 (last accessed Oct. 11, 2013), available at
http://www.val.se/pdf/electionsinsweden_webb.pdf.
27
28
David Kimball, Chris Owens & Katherine Keeney, Unrecorded Votes and Political Representation, in COUNTING
VOTES: LESSONS FROM THE 2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN FLORIDA 1, 5 (Robert Watson, ed., 2004), available at
http://www.umsl.edu/~kimballd/unrep.pdf.
29
David Kimball, Chris Owens & Katherine Keeney, Unrecorded Votes and Political Representation, in COUNTING
VOTES: LESSONS FROM THE 2000 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN FLORIDA 1, 5 (Robert Watson, ed., 2004), available at
http://www.umsl.edu/~kimballd/unrep.pdf.

5
made available to voters.
30
A voter can write on the ballot the name of the
candidate or the party the voter wants to elect; however, Swedish voting law
restricts the right to be elected to persons registered with a political party.
31
Thus,
only write-in votes for valid candidates and parties are counted.
32
While not
counted, Swedish voters have also written in fictional characters as a sign of
protest.
33

Voters in systems without an official write-in option may still write-in an
alternate candidate as a form of protest vote.
34
Though states may not accept
write-in votes as valid, such protest votes can indicate the level of voter
dissatisfaction. Like Swedish voters, Finnish voters commonly write Donald
Duck on their ballot to signal their dissatisfaction with the choice of candidates.
35

Though Finnish write-in votes are invalidated,
36
the press uses the percent of
invalidated votes in a given election to assess general voter discontent.
37

Spoiled Ballots

Protest votes may also refer to a vote that is deliberately incomplete,
intentionally invalidly marked, or submitted contrary to the electoral systems
regulations.
38
Spoiling a ballot may be unintentional, due to confusion regarding
the design of the ballot or a ballot defect, or intentional as a means to demonstrate

30
31
32
Swedish Election Authority, Party and Voter Preference (last accessed Oct. 11, 2013), available at
http://www.val.se/in_english/general_information/voting_for_party_and_person/index.html.
33
The Telegraph, Donald Duck and God Mar Swedish Election (Sept. 23, 2010), available at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/sweden/8021258/Donald-Duck-and-God-mar-Swedish-
election.html.
34
UUTISET, Spoiled Ballot Papers Reveal Write-in Favorites (June 2, 2012), available at
http://yle.fi/uutiset/spoiled_ballot_papers_reveal_write-in_favourites/5297235.
35
36
Information on the Municiple Elections of 2012, Finnish Ministry of Justice, available at
http://www.vaalit.fi/uploads/ssrvjou8nm0run7.pdf.
37
38
MONASH UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 285, 286 (1997)

6
discontent.
39
In theory, a spoiled ballot should be exchanged for a new ballot; in
practice, however, this does not always occur.
40

Although both spoiled ballots and white votes can be methods of casting
protest votes, a white vote is considered a more deliberate form of protest vote.
41

Moreover, where spoiled ballots are typically invalidated because they do not
comply with applicable rules and may occur accidentally, white votes may be
counted either separately as protest votes or rejected as invalid.
42
As such,
separating white votes from spoiled ballots is important and mixing the two may
have a substantial impact on election results.
43

Distinguishing Protest Votes

Some states use electronic voting machines (EVMs) to record specific
voting functions, such as the exercise of a protest vote option. EVMs can be
programmed to automatically treat the failure to select any particular candidate as a
white vote.
44
EVMs can also be programmed to ask a voter whether they intend to
submit a white vote.
45
EVMs may also differentiate between white and spoiled
ballots by including a second screen informing the voter that he or she is about to
cast a white vote and requiring verification of that decision.
46
While EVMs can
help distinguish protest votes from other forms of spoiled ballots, they may be
susceptible to fraud, conceivably allowing a hacker to change purposefully cast
white votes into votes for a particular candidate.
47

39
40
Separating Spoiled and Rejected Ballots, ACE PROJECT (last accessed July 20, 2013), available at
http://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/vc/vce/vce02/vce02b/?searchterm=spoiled%20vote.
41
MONASH UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 285, 285-86 (1997).
42
http://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/vc/vce/vce02/vce02b.
43
http://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/vc/vce/vce02/vce02b.
44
Sara Staino, Electronic Voting Machines Blank Vote Option, ACE PROJECT (Apr. 8, 2009), available at
45
46
47
Clive Thompson, Can You Count on Voting Machines?, THE NEW YORK TIMES (Jan. 6, 2008), available at
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/magazine/06Vote-t.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&.

7
Spain

Protest Vote: White Vote

Spanish electoral law currently recognizes the submission of a white vote
(voto en blanco) as a valid form of protest vote. In the Spanish system, a white
vote takes the form of an empty envelope that contains no ballot, or a blank ballot
in votes for the Senate.
48
White votes are tallied and counted as if they were valid
votes.
49
As such, white votes count towards the total number of votes cast, often
affecting smaller political parties that need to receive a minimum number of votes
to gain seats in parliament.
50
A white vote will not result in a seat in parliament
going empty.
51

Application in Elections

The Spanish electoral system is based on the dHondt method of
proportional representation, which elects candidates from political parties in
approximate proportion to the number of votes won by that party.
52
The system
requires a party to obtain a minimum of three percent of the vote in order to be
represented in parliament.
53
While the white vote is an established tradition in
Spain, it is mostly considered a statistical indicator of disapproval, with little
chance of influencing actual election results.
54
Because white votes do influence
the total number of votes cast, however, they may help or hinder a party trying to
obtain the minimum threshold for representation under the dHondt system.
55

48
Representation of the People Institutional Act sec. 96(5) (Spain, 2011), available at
http://www.juntaelectoralcentral.es/jelect/normativa/LOREG_Eng.pdf.
49
Representation of the People Institutional Act sec. 96(5) (Spain, 2011), available at
http://www.juntaelectoralcentral.es/jelect/normativa/LOREG_Eng.pdf.
50
World Elections, Guide to the 2011 Spanish Election (last accessd July 20, 2013), available at
http://welections.wordpress.com/links/guide-to-the-2011-spanish-election/.
51
Miles Johnson, Spanish Voters Bemoan Lack of Choice, FINANCIAL TIMES (Nov. 18, 2011), available at
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5a648cf8-11d6-11e1-a114-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2ZRG9X8qZ.
52
Eric Solsten and Sandra W. Meditz, Spain: A Country Study, UNITED STATES LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, (1988),
available at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html#es0001.
53
Eric Solsten and Sandra W. Meditz, Spain: A Country Study, UNITED STATES LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, (1988),
available at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/estoc.html#es0001.
54
World Elections, Guide to the 2011 Spanish Election (last accessd July 20, 2013), available at
55
None of the Above, VOTE BLANK (last accessed July 20, 2013), available at
http://www.blankvote.org.uk/none_of_the_above.html.

8
Lessons Learned

White votes have become a growing trend, increasing eightfold since the
first democratic elections following the death of Francisco Franco in 1975.
56
By
2004, white votes constituted as much as 1.6 percent of the votes, making white
votes the fifth-strongest political force that year.
57
In February 2009, the Basque
separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETS) publicly criticized the regional
parliamentary elections as anti-democratic, urging supporters to cast white
votes.
58
Likewise, during the protests that occurred throughout Spain in 2011,
organizers encouraged protesters to show their disapproval for both the governing
Socialist Party (PSOE) and the opposing Popular Party by casting white votes
during the local elections.
59
That year, both the number of white votes cast and
overall voter participation were higher than four years prior, increasing from 1.94
percent to 2.54 percent and from 63.24 percent to 66.23 percent, respectively.
60

The 2011 Aduna municipal election resulted in just 12 votes being cast for any
political party, while 287 white votes were cast.
61
The only political party that
received votes, the Popular Party, won the election with roughly four percent of the
total vote, barely meeting the three percent threshold.
62

A Spanish political party, Citizens for White Votes (Ciudadanos en Blancos
or Escaos en Blanco), was established to encourage greater influence of the white
vote in the state-wide electoral system.
63
The party campaigns for seats in
parliament, but promises to leave them vacant if they win.
64
According to the
partys manifesto, Citizens for White Votes aims to promote the legitimacy of the

56
Expatica, Blank Votes Become a Political Force in Spain (Mar. 6, 2008) available at
http://www.expatica.com/es/news/local_news/Blank-votes-become-a-_political-force_-in-Spain.html.
57
Guide to the 2011 Spanish Election, WORLD ELECTIONS (last accessd July 20, 2013), available at
58
France 24, ETA Urges Blank Ballot in Election (Feb. 28, 2009), available at
http://www.france24.com/en/20090228-eta-urges-blank-ballots-election.
59
Guide to the 2011 Spanish Election, WORLD ELECTIONS (last accessd July 20, 2013), available at
http://welections.wordpress.com/guide-to-the-2011-spanish-election/.
60
Lisa Abend, Protests: Has Revolution Come to Spain?, TIME (May 23, 2011), available at
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2073524,00.html.
61
Spanish Ministry of the Interior, 2011 Election Results (last accessed Oct. 11, 2013), available at
http://elecciones.mir.es/resultados2011/99MU/DMU1420900299_L1.htm?d=0&e=0.
62
Spanish Ministry of the Interior, 2011 Election Results (last accessed Oct. 11, 2013), available at
http://elecciones.mir.es/resultados2011/99MU/DMU1420900299_L1.htm?d=0&e=0.
63
Orestis Troumpounis, Suggesting an Alternative Electoral Proportional System: Blank Votes Count, INSTITUT
DECONOMIA DE BARCELONA, 1, 2 (Mar. 23, 2009), available at
http://www.ieb.ub.edu/aplicacio/fitxers/SM09trompounis.pdf.
64
Orestis Troumpounis, Suggesting an Alternative Electoral Proportional System: Blank Votes Count, INSTITUT
DECONOMIA DE BARCELONA, 1, 2 (Mar. 23, 2009), available at
http://www.ieb.ub.edu/aplicacio/fitxers/SM09trompounis.pdf.

9
white vote.
65
During the 2011 parliamentary elections, Citizens for White Votes
received 1.5 percent of votes cast in Catalonia.
66
During the same election, an
additional 1.85 percent of votes cast in Catalonia for representatives to Spains
parliament were white votes.
67
If all white votes cast in Catalonia had instead been
entered for Citizens for White Votes, Citizens for White Votes would have met the
three percent threshold required to win a seat representing Catalonia in parliament.

The potential influence of Citizens for White Votes on Spanish politics,
however, appears to be minimal. Under the dHondt method, major parties and
nationalists (who are regular members of the minority government) have a
significant advantage over smaller, scattered parties.
68
As most decisions in both
Spains
69
and Catalonias parliaments require only a simple majority (i.e., a
majority of seats plus one), the presence of more or fewer unoccupied seats would
not have a significant impact on the voting process.
70

In contrast, vacant seats have a greater impact on votes requiring an absolute
majority, such as when a chamber of Spains parliament votes on its standing
rules
71
or in the case of regional elections, such as the ones for the Catalonian
regional parliament.
72
Citizens for White Votes admits that it is relatively unlikely
that vacant seats will present an insurmountable barrier to the parliamentary
processes unless it achieves majority representation, thereby preventing other
parties from achieving an absolute majority.
73

In addition, the ability of Citizens for White Votes to effect electoral reform
may be further compromised by a law adopted in 2011. The new law makes it

65
Miles Johnson, Spanish Voters Bemoan Lack of Choice, FINANCIAL TIMES (Nov. 18, 2011), available at
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5a648cf8-11d6-11e1-a114-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2ZRG9X8qZ.
66
Escanos en Blancos, Valoracion de los Resultados de les Elecciones Generales (Nov. 21, 2011), available in
Spanish at http://escanos.org/2011/11/21/valoracion-de-los-resultados-de-les-elecciones-generales/.
67
Escanos en Blancos, Valoracion de los Resultados de les Elecciones Generales (Nov. 21, 2011), available in
Spanish at http://escanos.org/2011/11/21/valoracion-de-los-resultados-de-les-elecciones-generales/.
68
Guide to the 2011 Spanish Election, WORLD ELECTIONS (last accessed July 20, 2013), available at
http://welections.wordpress.com/guide-to-the-2011-spanish-election/.
69
SPANISH CONST. art. 81 (1978), available at
http://www.congreso.es/portal/page/portal/Congreso/Congreso/Hist_Normas/Norm/const_espa_texto_ingles_0.pdf.
70
Reform on the Statute of Catalonia art. 60.3 (Catalonia, 2006), available at http://www.parlament-
cat.net/porteso/estatut/estatut_angles_100506.pdf.
71
SPANISH CONST. art. 72 (1978), available at
http://www.congreso.es/portal/page/portal/Congreso/Congreso/Hist_Normas/Norm/const_espa_texto_ingles_0.pdf.
72
Lisa Abend, Catalonia Votes: Why the Regions New Proindependence Majority Wont Gurantee Separation from
Spain, TIME (Nov. 26, 2012), available at http://world.time.com/2012/11/26/catalonia-votes-why-the-regions-new-
pro-independence-majority-wont-guarantee-separation-from-spain/.
73
ESCONS EN BLANCO, Manual Bsico Para Candidatos Electos 3 (2011), available in Spanish at
http://votoenblancocomputable.org/images/pdf/2011_municipales/manual%20candidatos%20electos.pdf.

10
more difficult for parties without representatives in Spanish parliament chambers
to take part in elections.
74
It requires such parties to collect signatures from 0.1
percent of the population before being listed on the ballot as potential candidates.
75

France

Protest Vote: White Vote

The option to case a white vote (vote blanc) in French elections is seen by
some as a cultural icon of France.
76
The practice, which has been officially
recognized since 1853, takes the form of submitting a blank sheet of paper instead
of a ballot with the name of a candidate.
77
While the white vote cannot win an
electoral seat, the option provides a means for voters to express dissatisfaction with
the candidates offered.
78

After election officials have separated white ballots from valid and spoiled
ballots, white ballots are invalidated and are not recounted as part of the election.
79

The white ballot has become such an institution in France that a vote blanc option
has been incorporated into the modern electronic voting machines (EVMs),
although the majority of vote collection and counting in France currently remains
manual.
80
White votes have nonetheless figured prominently in recent decades,
such as during the parliamentary elections of March 1993, when the number of
white ballots cast exceeded the number of votes received by Frances Green
Party.
81
The Green Partys failure to obtain a single representative seat helped

74
El Referente, Los partidos minoritarios dispondrn de 20 das para recoger firmas (Aug. 24, 2011), available in
Spanish at http://www.elreferente.es/actualidad/los-partidos-minoritarios-tendran-20-dias-para-recoger-firmas-
14766.
65
El Referente, Los partidos minoritarios dispondrn de 20 das para recoger firmas (Aug. 24, 2011), available in
Spanish at http://www.elreferente.es/actualidad/los-partidos-minoritarios-tendran-20-dias-para-recoger-firmas-
14766.
76
Anne Senges, Voting None of the Above is the French Way, THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (Mar. 4, 2000),
available at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/03/04/ED11162.DTL.
77
available at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/03/04/ED11162.DTL; Matthew Holehouse,
French Presidential Election: As it Happened, THE TELEGRAPH (May 6, 2012), available at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9249109/French-Presidential-election-as-it-
happened.html.
78
available at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/03/04/ED11162.DTL.
79
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, France Presidential Election 22 April and 6 May 2007:
OSCE/ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission Report 4 (Apr. 3, 2007), available at
http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/france/24616.
80
Embassy of France in Australia, Elections 2012: A Users Guide 25 (2012), available at http://www.ambafrance-
au.org/IMG/pdf/kit_election_2012_EN.pdf.
81

11
push the party to reform its platform of non-alliance.
82
Currently, the Green Party
has 18 representatives in Frances parliament.
83


While some claim that abstaining from the vote might signal that a voter is
incompetent or indifferent, it is argued in the French context that white votes
indicate that a voter is interested and competent enough to choose to reject the
choices offered.
84
Previously, white ballots and invalid votes were lumped into the
same category for French presidential elections, referred to as blancs ou nuls
(white or null).
85
However, in November 2013, the National Assembly
unanimously passed a law to separate white and invalid votes, thereby providing
more recognition to the white vote.
86
In terms of providing accurate analyses of
election results, the tendency to use the terms white and null interchangeably
is problematic as it undermines the significance of deliberately submitted white
votes in symbolic protest by improperly conflating them with ballots that were
accidentally spoiled.
87

Lessons Learned

Election results indicate that more white ballots are cast in the second round
of presidential elections than in the first.
88
For instance, in the first round of the
2012 presidential election, white votes accounted for 1.52 percent of the ballots
cast.
89
In the second round of that election, white votes represented 4.66 percent of

available at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/03/04/ED11162.DTL; France, Parliamentary
Chamber, Assembl Nationale: Elections Held in 1993, INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION (1993), available at
http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2113_93.htm.
82
European Green Party, Europe Ecologie Les Verts (last visited Nov. 13, 2013), available at
http://europeangreens.eu/parties/europe-ecologie-les-verts.
83
European Green Party, Europe Ecologie Les Verts (last visited Nov. 13, 2013), available at
http://europeangreens.eu/parties/europe-ecologie-les-verts.
84
Fredrik Uggla, Incompetence, Alienation, or Calculation?: Explaining Levels of Invalid Ballots and Extra-
Parliamentary Votes, 41 COMPARATIVE POLITICAL STUDIES 1141, 1160 (2008).
85
Ministre de l'Intrieur, Rsultats de Lelection Presidentielle 2012 (2013) available in French at
http://www.interieur.gouv.fr/sections/a_votre_service/resultats-elections/PR2012/FE.html.
86
L'Assemble nationale reconnat le vote blanc . . . aprs les municipales, LA DEPECHE (Nov. 28, 2013) available
in French at http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2013/11/28/1762979-l-assemblee-nationale-reconnait-le-vote-blanc-
apres-les-municipales.html.
87
Marine Le Pen to Cast 'Blank Vote' in May 6 Runoff, FRANCE 24 (May 1, 2012), available at
http://www.france24.com/en/20120501-marine-le-pen-may-day-rally-national-front-france-presidential-election-
blank-vote.
88
Ministre de l'Intrieur, Rsultats de Lelection Presidentielle 2012 (2013), available in French at
89
France 2012 (Runoff), WORLD ELECTIONS (May 16, 2012), available at
http://welections.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/france-2012-runof/.

12
ballots cast.
90
Researchers explain that this trend may be attributable to the fact
that parties eliminated during the first round often encourage their supporters to
later cast white votes to demonstrate dissatisfaction.
91

Director of Studies Yves-Marie Cann from the Institut CSA, an institute
which studies opinion polls in France and Europe, explains that white votes are
also more common in the second round because, at this stage in the election
process, the political ideologies of each candidate becomes clearer.
92
According to
Cann, the first round of elections allow voters to choose from a wide selection of
candidates representing a broad range of policies and promises.
93
In contrast, Cann
notes the second round forces the public to choose between only two contenders
who typically come from opposite ends of the political spectrum.
94
Rather than
abstain altogether or support a candidate who does not endorse their views, many
voters choose to cast white votes so that they may still fulfill their civic duty to
participate.
95

In recent decades, the white vote has become an increasingly popular form
of political protest in France, utilized by disgruntled voters and politicians alike.
Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen famously cast a white vote during the second
round of the 2012 presidential election, rather than openly support either of the two
remaining candidates.
96
Le Pens decision, which received considerable media
attention, was seen as a strong political statement and a further blow to Nicolas
Sarkozys hopes of reelection. Some analysts speculated that the unpopular
incumbent needed as many as 80 percent of Le Pens first-round voters to secure a

90
Diana Magnay, Jim Bittermann, Hala Gorani, Saskya Vandoorne, & Stephanie Halasz, French President Elect
Hollande Casts Doubt on Austerity, CNN (May 7, 2012), available at
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/07/world/europe/france-election.
91
David F. Damore, Mallory M. Waters, and Shaun Bowler, Unhappy, Uninformed, or Uninterested?:
Understanding None of the Above Voting, POLITICAL RESEARCH QUARTERLY 1, 11 (2011), available at
92
Le Vote Blanc Peut-il Crer la Surprise aux Legislatives?, ATLANTICO (May 21, 2012), available in French at
http://www.atlantico.fr/decryptage/vote-blanc-peut-creer-surprise-aux-legislatives-yves-marie-cann-
369122.html?page=0,1.
93
369122.html?page=0,1.
94
369122.html?page=0,1.
95
369122.html?page=0,1.
96
BBC News, France Election: Le Pen to Cast Blank Vote in Run-off (May 1, 2012), available at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17906203.

13
simple majority win.
97
In the second and final round of elections 4.66 percent of
voters submitted white or invalid votes (just over 2 million in total), which
contributed to Socialist Party challenger Franois Hollandes ultimate victory.
98

Russia

Protest Vote: NOTA Option

Russias relatively short-lived NOTA option had its roots in the voting
procedure prevalent during most of Soviet history.
99
Previously, in single-member
districts in the USSR, one candidate would be nominated per seat in parliament.
100

Voters would indicate their preference through three primary methods: (1) placing
the ballot straight into the ballot box, unmarked, to indicate support for the single
listed candidate; (2) crossing out the name of the candidate and submitting the
modified ballot to indicate disapproval; or (3) abstaining from voting at all, which
could serve as a less provocative way of voting against a candidate.
101
The sole
candidate was declared elected if 50% of the electorate voted in his/her favor.
102

Accordingly, voter turnout was a decisive factor for the outcome of single-member
district elections.
103

This voting procedure was maintained in the late 1980s, when single-
member district elections witnessed the reemergence of multiple candidates.
104

Voters indicated preference by either crossing out all of the listed candidates
names except for the name of ones choice, or simply circling the name of ones

97
France 24, Marine Le Pen to Cast 'Blank Vote' in May 6 Runoff (May 1, 2012), available at
http://www.france24.com/en/20120501-marine-le-pen-may-day-rally-national-front-france-presidential-election-
blank-vote.
98
Ministre de l'Intrieur, Rsultats de Lelection Presidentielle 2012 (2013), available in French at
99
Ian McAllister and Stephen White, Voting Against All in Post-communist Russia, 60 EUROPE-ASIA STUDIES 67,
67 (2008), available at http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/5940/1/Voting_%252527against_all%252527_Enlighten.pdf.
100
H. Oversloot, J. Van Holsteyn & G.P. Van Der Berg, Against All: Exploring the Vote 'Against All' in the Russian
Federation's Electoral System, 18 JOURNAL OF COMMUNIST STUDIES AND TRANSITION POLITICS 31, 32 (2008).
101
102
Ger P. van den Berg, A New Electoral Law in the Soviet Union, 4 REVIEW OF SOCIALIST LAW 353, 356 (1978).
103
104

14
choice.
105
Voters also had the option of casting a valid against all vote by
crossing out all of the listed names.
106

The first formal provision for an against all option was established in
April 1991 during the last year of the Soviet regime through a law concerning the
election of the Russian President.
107
The formal provision provided that, while
voters would have an against all option and the government would report the
number of against all votes, the government would not consider against all
votes to be valid.
108
Although the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December
1991 witnessed the creation of new political institutions and representative
systems, the against all option was retained for state-wide parliamentary
elections in 1993.
109
While the 1993 ballot was changed to require voters to
indicate their choice by marking the box to the right of the candidates name,
110
the
option against all candidates, with a corresponding box to the right, was included
at the end of the list of candidates.
111

Electoral laws adopted in 1997 and 2002 made important changes to the
against all option by stipulating that an election would be considered invalid if
the voter turnout fell below the specified level or if there were more against all
votes than votes in favor of the leading candidate.
112
In the 2003 parliamentary
elections, the against all option received more votes than any other option in
three districts, requiring new elections for those seats, which were held together
with the 2004 presidential election.
113

105
106
107
108
109
110
Michael Waller, RUSSIAN POLITICS TODAY 134 (2005).
111
H. Oversloot, J. van Holsteyn and G.P. van der Berg, Against All: Exploring the Vote 'Against All' in the Russian
112
70(2008), available at http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/5940/1/Voting_%252527against_all%252527_Enlighten.pdf.
113
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Elections to the Russian State Duma, 27 (Jan. 27, 2004),
available at http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/russia/21482.

15
The against all option was abolished by parliament in 2006,
114
and the
minimum voter thresholds for validating presidential and parliamentary elections
were abolished in 2007.
115
A 2011 poll revealed that 73 percent of Russians were
in favor of reinstating the against all option.
116


According to post-election surveys, voters who utilized the against all
option tended to be younger, more urbanized, and better educated than most
voters.
117
Although such voters did not reject liberal democracy altogether, they
evidently believed that no party adequately reflected their views.
118
The
percentage of against all votes tended to be higher in gubernatorial elections and
other elections that used district-based majoritarian systems.
119
The utilization of
an against all vote option was not as prevalent in elections involving a single,
state-wide constituency, such as the presidential election and the party list section
of parliamentary elections.
120

In 2006, the Russian parliament voted to remove the against all option
from future elections.
121
While supporters justified the move, arguing that it would
encourage greater participation in the political process,
122
opponents argued that
removing the option reduced the legitimacy of those elected and limited the voting
rights of citizens.
123
Critics of the new legislation claimed that the bill had been
introduced because the Kremlin feared too many voters would use the against all
option and thereby jeopardize candidates chances of winning the necessary

114
Ria Novosti, Against All Vote Could Return to Russian Ballots (July 13, 2011), available at
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110713/165173405.html.
115
The Economist, Putins Phoney Election (Nov. 9, 2007), available at
http://www.economist.com/node/10217312.
116
RT, Russians Want Protest Vote to be Returned (Jul. 28, 2011), available at http://rt.com/politics/russians-
protest-vote-returned/.
117
118
119
120
121
Ian McAllister and Stephen White, Voting Against All in Post-communist Russia, 60 EUROPE-ASIA STUDIES 67
(2008), available at http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/5940/1/Voting_%252527against_all%252527_Enlighten.pdf.
122
BBC News, Russians Lose Against All Vote, (Jun. 30, 2006), available at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5133138.stm.
123
Turkish Weekly, Against All Vote Could Return to Russian Ballots (July 13, 2011), available at
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/119027/-39-against-all-39-vote-could-return-to-russian-ballots.html.

16
majority.
124
Indeed, polls at the time of the legislative move indicated that against
all voting was becoming increasingly popular among voters.
125

Lessons Learned

The removal of the against all option has had notable implications for
voting in Russia. For one, according to former Federation Council speaker Sergey
Mironov, voter turnout has declined.
126
Mironov argued that the option served as a
political thermometer, measuring the temperature within society and giving
authorities better insight into citizens sentiments toward the political
establishment.
127
Removing the against all option has reduced overall voter
turnout, as protest voters have no incentive to vote without the official protest
option.
128

Removing the option has also had a meaningful impact on the outcome of
elections, including the 2012 election of President Vladimir Putin. In the March
2012 election, Putin won over 63 percent of the vote during the first round of
elections, thus avoiding a runoff election with the first runner-up.
129
Run-off
elections only take place if no candidate receives a majority of votes (50 percent
plus one).
130
However, polls have indicated that, had there been an against all
option on the ballot, only 47 percent of Russian voters would have voted for Putin
in the first round of elections,
131
thus requiring a run-off election and possibly
leading to a different electoral result.

124
125
78 (2008), available at http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/5940/1/Voting_%252527against_all%252527_Enlighten.pdf; David
McHugh, None of the Above Ranks on Russian Presidential Ballot, ONLINEATHENS (Mar. 25, 2000), available at
http://onlineathens.com/stories/032500/ele_0325000028.shtml.
126
Turkish Weekly, Against All Vote Could Return to Russian Ballots (July 13, 2011), available at
127
RT, Pro-Putin Opposition Head: Removing Against All Protest Vote a Mistake (Mar. 4, 2011), available at
http://rt.com/politics/presidential-election-speaker-mironov/.
128
RT, Fair Russia Wants Protest Votes to be Returned (July 13, 2011), available at http://rt.com/politics/protest-
voting-opposition-mironov/.
129
The Moscow Times, Poll: 47% Support for Putin in Presidential Vote Given 'Against All' Ballot Choice (Mar.
23, 2012), available at http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/poll-47-support-for-putin-in-presidential-
vote-given-against-all-ballot-choice/455317.html.
130
131

17
Critics have also accused the Kremlin of rigging the 2007 presidential
election results. In addition to removing the against all option and abolishing the
minimum turnout out rule, the Kremlin arrested opposition leaders and scrapped
regional parties and single-mandate seats for independent deputies.
132
Doing so
severely curtailed several traditional options available to protest voters who did not
support the major candidates or parties. These sentiments were echoed following
Russias 2011 parliamentary elections, which many claimed were rigged long
before the first vote was cast.
133
Although the parliament considered a draft bill to
reinstate the against all option in 2011, the option currently remains
unavailable.
134
In September 2013, Federation Council Speaker, Valentina
Matvienko, and others spoke publicly about the need to restore the NOTA
option.
135

Conclusion

Protest votes in Europe are a method of allowing voters to express
dissatisfaction through the ballot box. By withholding a vote, voting against all
official candidates, writing in alternative candidates, striking out candidates, or
otherwise purposefully invalidating ones ballot, a voter can signal their
unhappiness with the electoral choices. Protest votes can be integrated, either
formally or informally, into the voting system, allowing disaffected voters to
potentially influence election outcomes while expressing their dissatisfaction.

The manner by which protest votes are counted, reported, and used in
determining the allocation of seats differs throughout Europe. Certain states treat
such votes as invalid, others report them separately from the ballot totals, and still
others include them as valid votes that can alter the percentage of total votes a
candidate receives. In addition, while some states have found that tracking protest
votes allows elected representatives an opportunity to gauge public opinion, others
have chosen to ignore protest votes or have removed the formal protest vote
options from their voting systems.

132
The Economist, Russias Election: Putin's Phoney Election (Dec. 1, 2007), available at
http://www.economist.com/node/10235434.
133
Vladimir Kara-Murza, The Boos and the Ballots: Russias 2011 Election Heads to Its Finale, WORLD AFFAIRS
(Dec. 1, 2011), available at http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/vladimir-kara-murza/boos-and-ballots-russias-
2011-election-heads-its-finale.
134
Turkish Weekly,Against All Vote Could Return to Russian Ballots (July 13, 2011), available at
135
ITAR-TASS News Agency, None-of-the-Above Box May be Restored to Russias Ballot Papers Soon, (Sep. 27,
2013), available at http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c39/893594.html.

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