Editing Paper candidate (section)

{{Short description|Election candidate of a party with little support}}
{{use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2008}}
{{Elections}}

In a [[representative democracy]], a '''paper candidate''' (also known as a '''no-hope candidate''') is a candidate who stands for a [[political party]] in an [[electoral division]] where the party in question enjoys only low levels of support. Although the candidate has little chance of winning, a major party will normally make an effort to ensure it has its name on the [[ballot]] paper in every [[constituency]]. In two-party systems, a paper candidate may also be known as '''token opposition'''. In Dutch-speaking countries, the last candidate on a [[party list]] is called a ''[[lijstduwer]]'' and is usually a well-known non-politician such as an artist, celebrity or sports person, chosen to attract more votes for the party.

A [[dummy candidate]] is similar to a paper candidate in that both types do not expect to win their race; however, they differ in that a dummy candidate typically has an ulterior motive for being in the race, such as to dishonestly divert votes away from more legitimate candidates or to take advantage of benefits afforded to political candidates. Another related concept is the [[stalking horse]] candidate, a junior or little-known politician who challenges an incumbent to test the support for a more serious challenge from someone else.