# Overvote

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{{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.<ref>[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](/source/Election_Assistance_Commission)</ref> The result is a [spoiled vote](/source/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](/source/Robert's_Rules_of_Order)'' notes that such votes are illegal.<ref>{{Parliamentary manuals|title = RONR|edition = 11th|year = 2011|pages = 416-417}}(RONR)</ref>

[Undervotes](/source/Undervotes) combined with overvotes (known as [residual vote](/source/residual_vote)s) can be an academic indicator in evaluating the accuracy of a voting system when recording [voter](/source/voter) intent.<ref>{{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
 |archive-date = 2008-09-11
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080911004322/http://www.vote.caltech.edu/media/documents/wps/vtp_wp32.pdf
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>

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

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/proxyprocess/proxyvotingbrief.htm|title=Briefing Paper: Roundtable on Proxy Voting Mechanics|website=www.sec.gov}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2001-05-10-recountmethod.htm USAToday.com – How USA Today and others examined overvote]

Category:Elections
Category:Voting theory

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Overvote](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overvote) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overvote?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.