In the study of electoral systems, a wasted vote may be defined in 2 different ways:

1. any vote which is not for an elected candidate.
2. any vote which does not help to elect a candidate.

The first definition includes only those votes which are for losing candidates (individual or party). The second definition is wider as it also includes surplus votes for winning candidates who would have won anyway without the wasted vote. The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calendar Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by ideology Ideologies...

An electoral system which reduces the number of wasted votes is considered desirable by some, on grounds of fairness or on the more pragmatic basis that a voter who feels their vote has made no difference may feel detached from their government or lose confidence in the democratic process. The term "wasted vote" is especially used by advocates of systems like the Single Transferable Vote which purport to reduce the numbers of such votes. The Politics Series Politics Politics Portal Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Ideology Democracy Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Elections Elections Elections by country Elections by calendar Political parties Political party Parties by country Parties by name... This STV ballot for the Australian Senate illustrates group voting tickets. ...

The term may be considered pejorative by opponents of such systems. Their arguments may either suggest that in any voting system each vote is wasted (unless the result is decided by a single vote), or that no vote is wasted as each one sends a political signal which will be taken into account in preparation for the subsequent election. A word or phrase is pejorative or derogatory (sometimes misspelled perjorative) if it expresses contempt or disapproval; dyslogistic (noun: dyslogism) is used synonymously (antonyms: meliorative, eulogistic, noun eulogism). ...

In election campaigns, a leading candidate may appeal to voters who support a less-popular candidate to vote instead for them for tactical reasons, on the basis that a vote for their preferred candidate is likely to be wasted. In some electoral systems, it may be plausible for less-popular candidates may make similar appeals to supporters of more-popular candidates. In a plurality voting system, the term "wasted vote" is not usually applied to votes for the second-placed candidate, but rather to votes for candidates finishing third or lower. This is a reflection of Duverger's Law, i.e. the institutionalisation of a two-party system. A political campaign is an effort to reach a certain political goal. ... In voting systems, tactical voting (or strategic voting) occurs when a voter misrepresents his or her sincere preferences in order to gain a more favorable outcome. ... The first-past-the-post electoral system is a voting system for single-member districts, variously called first-past-the-post (FPTP or FPP), winner-take-all, plurality voting, or relative majority. ... Duvergers Law is a principle which asserts that a first-past-the-post election system naturally leads to a two-party system. ...

Example

Consider an election where candidates A, B and C receive 6000, 3100 and 701 votes respectively.

If this is a plurality voting election for a single seat, Candidate A has a plurality of votes and is therefore elected. The wasted votes are:

• All 3801 votes for candidates B and C, since these did not elect any candidate
• In the wider definition, 2899 of the votes for candidate A are wasted, since A would still have won with only 3101 votes. Therefore 6700 out of 9801 votes are wasted.

If the same votes for A, B and C are cast in a d'Hondt method election for 12 seats, then the seats are split 8-4-0 for A-B-C. The wasted votes are: The dHondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. ...

• All 701 votes for party C, which won no seats.
• In the wide definition, also wasted are:
  • 399 votes for A, since A would still have won 8 seats with only 5601 votes against 3100 and 701. (With 5600 votes for A, the last seat would go to C).
  • 299 votes for B, since only with 2800 votes would B lose the last seat to C.

A majority of votes are always wasted (in the wider sense) in a single-seat election, unless there are exactly 2 candidates and the margin of victory is exactly 1 vote. Multi-seat constituencies reduce the number of wasted votes, particularly with proportional representation. A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ... Proportional representation (PR) is any election system which ensures a proportionally representative result of a democratic election, x% of votes should be represented by x% in the democratic institutions, parliament or congress. ...

References

• Amy, Douglas J. (2000) Behind the Ballot Box: A Citizen's Guide to Voting Systems, Praeger/Greenwood. ISBN 0275965856