Mickey Mouse, Santa Claus, Jesus… These are some of the more renowned figures who receive thousands of ballots every four years in the American federal election. In a country where all but nine states allow write-in votes, many Americans have used this quirk in their election system to truly exercise their freedom of speech and vote for some of the most significant figures in their lives who have influenced and inspired them on a spiritual level: Harambe, Kanye West, and “Your Mom.”

Although some may consider write-in votes a joke (and although some voters certainly do treat them as such), write-in votes are more often used as a form of voter protest — for when a voter feels alienated by all the options represented on their ballot and would like to formally express their discontent in the form of a “protest vote.” For example, in the 2016 American federal election, Republican Governor John Kasich of Ohio stated that he would protest Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump by writing down John McCain on his ballot. Other prominent Republican officials declared that they would protest Donald Trump by writing down Mike Pence’s name instead, and many democrats protested Hilary Clinton by writing down Bernie Sanders.

For many voters in a representative democracy, “protest votes” are a way of making a political statement — albeit a slightly unconventional one. And there are many different ways of casting a protest vote, some of which may include:

1. A blank ballot

2. A ballot with multiple options filled in

3. An improperly marked ballot (an X outside the circle)

4. A ballot with any identifying marks on it, such as the voter’s name

5. A “write-in” ballot (if offered)

6. A “none-of-the above” ballot (if offered)

7. Step 1: Bringing a blender to the polling station along with some bananas, strawberries, and soy milk

   Step 2: Receiving your ballot at the polling station

Step 3: Locating a power outlet at said polling station and them promptly proceeding to blend your ballot with your bananas, strawberries, and soy milk 

Step 4: Drinking your ballot smoothie infront of everyone at the station

Some of these options are less advisable than others. If you are truly a dissatisfied protest voter who feels unrepresented by the candidates on your ballot, options 1 to 3 are probably not the best way to make a political statement; how are the people tallying your vote supposed to know whether you are a protester or simply someone who can’t follow instructions? Option 4 violates the aspect of anonymity in voting. And in Canada, option 7 is considered an offence under the Elections Act. And although the few members of the Edible Ballots Society who were charged with destroying their ballots back in 2000 DID eventually have their charges dropped, option 7 could potentially result in a messy ordeal both in terms of legal issues and internal bowel movements. In fact, in Canada, none of the options from 1 to 7 are advisable in terms of casting a “true protest vote.” It’s because “protest votes” don’t exist here.

In Canada, at least at the federal level, there is currently no successful way for dissatisfied voters to vote for “none-of-the-above” or vote for an alternate candidate that they think is more deserving than the options on their ballots. Our ballots do not have a “none-of-the-above” box nor a write-in section (special ballots such as mail ballots do have a write-in section but even that section is limited to the names of official candidates). And deliberately spoiling your ballot by leaving it blank of filling it in improperly as a form of protest would actually result in the ballot being considered as a “rejected ballot” — a ballot Elections Canada does not collect data from. Squeezing in the name of an alternate candidate on the top of your ballot won’t register as a political statement, since all Elections Canada will do with your “protest ballot” is lump it in with the other 120 thousand or so “rejected ballots” they receive in each federal election and dispose of it. In other words, your “protest” won’t actually count — it literally won’t be counted. 

Because Elections Canada lumps “protest ballots” together with “rejected ballots,” there is no way to tell ballots that are cast by alienated voters in the spirit of protest apart from ballots that are cast by confused voters who just don’t know how to follow instructions. In Canada, the only way to make your “protest ballot” count (i.e. register with the current system Elections Canada has in place) is to show up to the polling booth and then publicly declare infront of the election officer in charge of handing out ballots that you are declining your right to vote. This will result in your ballot being marked as a “declined ballot” that will actually be tallied and formally included in the official results as “declined ballots”. But even this form of voter protest is limited to provincial elections or territorial elections in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and the Northwest Territories; formally declining your ballot (or any form of a “protest vote” really) is simply not an option for Canadians voting in federal ridings.

In a representative democracy like Canada with a “first-past-the-post” voting system in which 40 percent of the popular vote can still win a house majority, the lack of formal “protest vote” options available to voters has generated a lot of protests — all of them unsuccessful so far. The Ballot Smoothie Protests of 2000 made headlines but failed to make any real changes to the Canadian federal election system. Private members’ bills in the House of Commons and Senate to date have all been unsuccessful, and the proposed (and broken) electoral reform promises made by the Liberals in 2015 did not explicitly discuss “protest vote” options. 

One of the more recent and most notable attempts to change the Canadian federal election system’s lack of “protest vote” options was in 2017, when David Rodriguez, a law student at the University of Ottawa took the federal government to court over his inability to formally vote for “none-of-the-above” in the 2015 Canadian federal election. Rodriguez cited that the government was “unjustifiably” restricting his right to freedom of speech by failing to provide him with a way to formally decline his ballot in a way which would register with the federal election system. And although the judge who heard the case sympathized with Rodriguez and stated that the case "raised serious issues concerning freedom of expression under the Charter and democracy," the judge ultimately sided with the federal government and dismissed the case by concluding that there was "no genuine issue for trial."

Ultimately, it seems highly unlikely that the Canadian federal election system will change to formally give voters the option to “write-in” alternate candidates, vote for “none-of-the above,” or decline their ballots anytime soon. Even if the federal election system somehow changed to allow voters to formally decline their ballots (like is permitted in some provincial and territorial elections) and included the declined ballots in the official results, those tens of thousands of declined ballots would fail to send any clear political message other than some sort of general discontent amongst a certain number of voters. 

Voting is hard: to strategically choose the one person who can best represent you and your political views from a list of very limited options is an arduous task indeed — but it does send a political message. And the political message is undoubtedly clearest when voters select a viable candidate who they deem qualified enough to actually take charge of the government — not Mickey Mouse, Harambe, or “Your Mom.” But Canadians voting in federal elections are essentially forced either into sending a very clear political message or no message at all (at least in the eyes of Elections Canada)... 

Even if you didn’t want to vote for Mickey Mouse, shouldn’t you at least have that option?