{{Short description|Ballot with too few choices selected}}{{Redirects|Undervote|invalidated ballots|spoilt vote|incomplete ballots under RCV|ballot exhaustion}}{{Voting sidebar}}
'''Voter drop-off''', '''roll-off''', or '''undervoting''' occurs when a voter selects fewer options in a contest than the maximum number allowed or makes no selection at all for a particular election.<ref name="EAC def">{{Cite web |title=2005 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines |url=http://www.eac.gov/voting%20systems/docs/vvsgvolumei.pdf/attachment_download/file |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613012027/http://www.eac.gov/voting%20systems/docs/vvsgvolumei.pdf/attachment_download/file |archive-date=13 June 2008 |access-date=3 November 2023 |publisher=Election Assistance Commission |page=A-18}}</ref> Undervotes may be intentional or unintentional.<ref name="explain undervote">{{cite news |date=30 November 2000 |title=WNT: Explaining the Undervotes |url=https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=131406 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109160445/https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=131406 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |work=ABC News}}</ref>
Intentional undervotes arise from deliberate abstention. An individual may participate in the election but decline to support any candidate as a form of protest, or may simply choose not to vote for lower offices because they lack information or interest in downballot races.<ref name="explain undervote" /> For example, a voter might select a presidential candidate but abstain from a concurrent county commissioner election.<ref name="wapo 1.7mil">{{cite news |last1=Bump |first1=Philip |date=14 December 2016 |title=1.7 million people in 33 states and DC cast a ballot without voting in the presidential race |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/14/1-7-million-people-in-33-states-and-dc-cast-a-ballot-without-voting-in-the-presidential-race/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214163156/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/14/1-7-million-people-in-33-states-and-dc-cast-a-ballot-without-voting-in-the-presidential-race/?utm_term=.197f8db60d57 |archive-date=14 December 2016 |work=The Washington Post}}</ref>
Unintentional undervotes may result from poor ballot design or voter misunderstanding. For instance, a voter mistakenly marking a preference ballot by selecting the same candidate for multiple positions could lead to an undervote.<ref name="machine v human">{{Cite web |last=Alvarez |first=R. Michael |last2=Katz |first2=Jonathan N. |last3=Hill |first3=Jonathan N. |date=September 20, 2005 |title=Machines Versus Humans: The Counting and Recounting of Pre-scored Punchcard Ballots |url=http://www.vote.caltech.edu/sites/default/files/vtp_wp32.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111060307/https://www.vote.caltech.edu/sites/default/files/vtp_wp32.pdf |archive-date=11 November 2013 |access-date=2008-06-12 |publisher=Caltech/ MIT Voting Technology Project |version=VTP Working Paper #32}}</ref><ref name="explain undervote" />
Undervotes, together with overvotes (where a voter selects more options than are allowed), are collectively referred to as ''residual votes''. These are used in academic studies to assess the accuracy and reliability of voting systems in capturing voter intent.<ref name="machine v human" />
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * [http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2009/07/01/november-2006-undervote-analysis/ Champaign County Illinois November 2006 Undervote Analysis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090704002856/http://blog.champaigncountyclerk.com/2009/07/01/november-2006-undervote-analysis/ |date=2009-07-04 }} * [http://www.vote.caltech.edu/ Caltech/ MIT Voting Technology Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226211406/http://www.vote.caltech.edu/ |date=2008-12-26 }}
Category:Elections Category:Voting theory
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