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Incompetence, Alienation, or Calculation?

Explaining Levels of Invalid Ballots and Extra-Parliamentary Votes

Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

This article focuses on the casting of invalid ballots and voting for extra-parliamentary parties. Drawing on evidence from more than 200 elections in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas during the 1980-2000 period, it tests how well four sets of factors serve as explanations for the extent of such behavior in parliamentary contests. The main finding is that the structure of political competition provides an important explanation for extra-parliamentary voting and, in particular, the number of invalid ballots. Thus, rather than being the unfortunate circumstances of an uninformed or incompetent electorate, these forms of voting, to a large extent, appear to reflect a political situation that offers voters little effective choice in the form of clear alternatives.

Key Words: invalid votes • spoilt ballots • extra-parliamentary votes • electoral behavior

This version was published on August 1, 2008

Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 41, No. 8, 1141-1164 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0010414007301702


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