The clock is ticking down towards 5 November and with less than a week to go until what many are calling the most important election in American history, everyone must ensure that their vote counts when it comes time to count.

Follow AS’s live coverage of Election Day and the count in swing states

There are several mistakes people can make without realizing it and one common practice is voters spoiling their ballot, occasionally, intentionally as a mark of protest but it’s essential that voters ensure that their vote is valid and deemed legitimate when it comes to the counting procedure.

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What is a spoiled ballot?

A spoiled ballot is a ballot that has been marked incorrectly and will is not be counted by election officials due to a potential number of factors.

Spoiled ballots can happen for any number of accidental but more often than not, deliberate reasons, such as being torn, soiled, or marked in any that would identify the voter.

The most common form of spoiling would be to simply leave the ballot blank or to deface it.

Voters may have many different reasons for spoiling the ballot with the most common is a form of protest vote. Rather than simply not showing up to vote, voters cast a spoilt ballot to express their dissatisfaction with the system.

By actively choosing to spoil their ballot, voters send a direct message to the government and election organizers. At times messages of a political nature or insults can be written across the ballot with lewd images also a common feature.

A recent election in an Australia state saw spoilt ballots representing 6% of total votes cast.