overvote

{{Short description|Spoiled vote in an election}}{{Voting}}

An overvote occurs when one votes for more than the maximum number of selections allowed in a contest.[http://www.eac.gov/voting%20systems/docs/vvsgvolumei.pdf/attachment_download/file/ 2005 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613012027/http://www.eac.gov/voting%20systems/docs/vvsgvolumei.pdf/attachment_download/file |date=2008-06-13 }}, p. A-13 Election Assistance Commission The result is a spoiled vote which is not included in the final tally.

One example of an overvote would be voting for two candidates in a single race with the instruction "Vote for not more than one." Robert's Rules of Order notes that such votes are illegal.{{Cite parl|title = RONR|edition = 11th|year = 2011|pages = 416-417}}(RONR)

Undervotes combined with overvotes (known as residual votes) can be an academic indicator in evaluating the accuracy of a voting system when recording voter intent.

{{cite web

| last1 = Alvarez | first1 = R. Michael

| last2 = Katz | first2 = Jonathan N.

| last3 = Hill | first3 = Jonathan N.

| title = Machines Versus Humans: The Counting and Recounting of Pre-scored Punchcard Ballots

| version = VTP Working Paper #32

| publisher = CALTECH/MIT Voting Technology Project

| date = September 20, 2005

| url = http://www.vote.caltech.edu/media/documents/wps/vtp_wp32.pdf

| access-date = 2008-06-12}}

While an overvote in a plurality voting system or limited voting is always illegal, in certain other electoral methods including approval voting, this style of voting is valid, and thus invalid overvotes are not possible.{{Cite web|url=https://electionscience.org/library/approval-voting/|title=Approval Voting|website=The Center for Election Science}}

In the corporate world, the term "overvote" describes a situation in which someone votes more proxies than they are authorized to, or for more shares than they hold of record.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/proxyprocess/proxyvotingbrief.htm|title=Briefing Paper: Roundtable on Proxy Voting Mechanics|website=www.sec.gov}}