Editing Protest vote (section)

== Protest vote and abstention == 
{{main|Abstention}}

Abstention may be a type of protest vote when it is not solely the result of [[political apathy]] or indifference towards politics. In systems where [[compulsory voting|voting is compulsory]], abstention may be an act of [[civil disobedience|political disappointment]]. The [[anarchist]] movement rejects [[representative democracy]] in favor of a more [[direct democracy|direct form]] of government and has historically called for abstention as a form of protest.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Danny|date=September 2016|title='Ultra-left' anarchists and anti-fascism in the Second Republic|url=http://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/2792/1/Danny%20Evans%20Ultra-Left%20Anarchists.%20Published%20IJIS.%202016.docx|journal=International Journal of Iberian Studies|volume=29|issue=3|pages=241–256|doi=10.1386/ijis.29.3.241_1|access-date=2019-12-17|archive-date=2021-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212061901/https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/2792/1/Danny%20Evans%20Ultra-Left%20Anarchists.%20Published%20IJIS.%202016.docx|url-status=dead|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Active protest voting, whether through spoiled or blank ballots, tends to communicate dissatisfaction more effectively than abstention.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Hill|first=Lisa|date=2006|title=Low Voter Turnout in the United States. Is Compulsory Voting a Viable Solution?|journal=Journal of Theoretical Politics|volume=18|issue=2|pages=207–232|doi=10.1177/0951629806061868|citeseerx=10.1.1.1005.9634| s2cid=154361874 }}</ref>

Abstaining increases the proportion of votes for the most popular candidate or party, while using a protest vote against the popular candidate or party can shrink a margin of victory. Reducing the margin may result in a [[hung parliament]] or a smaller difference between the parties in government, thus limiting the chance a single party will have control over the system.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}