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Anovervote occurs when one votes for more than the maximum number of selections allowed in a contest.^[1] The result is aspoiled 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.^[2]

Undervotes combined with overvotes (known asresidual votes) can be an academic indicator in evaluating the accuracy of a voting system when recordingvoter intent.^[3]

While an overvote in aplurality voting system orlimited voting is always illegal, in certain otherelectoral methods includingapproval voting, this style of voting is valid, and thus invalid 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]

• USAToday.com – How USA Today and others examined overvote

• Elections
• Voting theory

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