An explicit doodle that appeared to resemble male genitalia drawn on a ballot paper at last Thursday’s Wokingham borough council elections was counted as a vote for the candidate whose box it was drawn against, Wokingham Today can reveal.
The scrawling was adjudicated by candidates and their agents at the count on Friday, and deemed to have indicated a preference for a specific candidate. It was also seen by a reporter from this newspaper.
A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission told Wokingham Today: “Unless the way the ballot paper is marked identifies the voter, the ballot paper must not be rejected if the voter’s intention is clear and the mark is legible.
“A cross within a box is advised, but it is ultimately for the returning officer at the local authority to decide whether a ballot paper is rejected or not.
“This guidance is from the Local Elections, Principal Areas Rules 2006 legislation.”
A total of 259 ballot papers in last week’s Wokingham borough and town elections were rejected for want of an official mark, voting for more candidates than entitled, writing a mark by which the voter could be identified, or being unmarked or wholly void for uncertainty.
In the 2024 general election, 199 ballot papers were also rejected for the same reasons.
