{
  "id": 16748824,
  "title": "Here’s how many spoilt ballots were previously cast and how they could have mattered",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/27/heres-how-many-spoilt-ballots-were-previously-cast-and-how-they-could",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-27T13:20:18.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Citizen",
    "slug": "the-citizen",
    "url": "https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/elections/how-many-spoilt-ballots-cast-how-they-could-have-mattered/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported 597,192 spoilt votes in the 2021 local government elections, with the proportion of spoilt ballots increasing from 1.83% in 2017 to 1.91% in 2021. Spoilt ballots can result from various errors such as placing multiple Xs on one ballot, marking two or more boxes, or writing on the ballot. Despite the high number of spoilt ballots, they are not included in the final vote count and are treated as equivalent to a voter who did not participate. Political analyst William Saunderson-Meyer criticized the act of spoiling a ballot, stating it was a form of self-indulgence given the sacrifices made to ensure voting rights and the current dire state of the nation.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}