Hayat Ben Hilal - Tunisia
The rate of canceled papers has sparked widespread controversy among Tunisians, who said that about 100,000 lost votes would make a small, if any, change in the election results.
The number of white papers in the first round of premature elections held two weeks ago, about 24 thousand papers, while the canceled papers have reached about 68 thousand papers, were not counted in the results, according to the Independent High Electoral Commission.
According to the electoral law, a canceled ballot is any ballot paper that does not explicitly express the will of the voter, or that contradicts the principles set forth.
The white paper is any ballot paper that does not include any mark whatsoever, and is counted among the votes authorized, and is not counted within the electoral quotient.
A damaged paper is any ballot paper that has been rendered invalid and will be replaced before being placed in the box as determined by the Commission.
Canceled papers
Ballot papers are canceled for various reasons and cannot be counted in the results, such as if they carry a vote for two or more candidates or are torn or unclear or carry writings, drawings or other, which may be intentionally or unintentionally.
The illiterate voter turnout was 40.8% for second-place candidate Nabil Karoui, according to Sigma Consai, which explains the high turnout of uneducated voters or those with primary education.
The pioneers of social media platforms criticized the legislative election paper, which some considered a crime against illiterate voters, for the large list and the overlap of colors in it, and the small size of the writing and boxes allocated to put a check mark.
Political analyst Min Bouazizi considered that the techniques of the voting process were made only for learners, and did not account for the large percentage of illiterate voters, which makes some candidates pay the tax of lack of awareness in a society living emerging democracy, he told Al Jazeera Net.
Protest vote
The process of putting the white paper in democratic countries began as an expression of voters' dissatisfaction with all the political class, and then became a legal manifestation of the elections in the world as a kind of boycott, but it guarantees the citizen to exercise his electoral right.
The white paper is the opposite of the canceled paper, as it represents a choice in itself of the voter to express that none of the candidates has been satisfied.
Although it does not change the election results, it is not a healthy aspect of democracy, according to political analyst Min Bouazizi, who considers it stronger than boycotting elections that sabotage the democratic process.
In turn, the international expert on electoral affairs Rafiq Halawani said in a statement to Al Jazeera Net that the percentage of canceled papers is not a threat to the results of the vote, as a small percentage compared to the percentage of papers calculated, and has little impact.