Overvote

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An overvote occurs when one votes for more than the maximum number of selections allowed in a contest.^[1] The result is a spoilt 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: "If he votes for too many candidates for a given office, however, that particular section of the ballot is illegal, because it is not possible for the tellers to determine for whom the member desired to vote."^[2]

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.^[3]

While an overvote in a plurality voting system is always illegal, in certain other electoral methods including approval voting, overvotes are not possible^[4]

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.^[5]