Overvote

1. Overvote occurs when the number of selections made by a voter in a contest is more than the maximum number allowed.

Source: Election Terminology Glossary - Draft, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), https://pages.nist.gov/ElectionGlossary/; Pilot Implementation Study of Risk-Limiting Audit Methods in the State of Rhode Island, RLA Working Group, https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/Report-RI-Design-FINAL-WEB4.pdf

2. Voting for more than the maximum number of selections allowed in a contest.

Source: Glossary of terms database, U.S. Election Assistance Commission, https://www.eac.gov/glossary/

3. A vote for more choices than are permitted for the contest.

Source: ELECTIONS: The Nation’s Evolving Election System as Reflected in the November 2004 General Election, U.S. Government Accountability Office, https://www.gao.gov/assets/160/157713.pdf

4. An indication on a cast ballot that more than one choice has been made in a single-choice contest. Overvotes are invalid votes.

Source: Asking the Right Questions about Electronic Voting, National Research Council, https://www.nap.edu/catalog/11449/asking-the-right-questions-about-electronic-voting

5. An overvote occurs when a voter makes more selections than she is entitled to make. For example, voting for two candidates for a particular contest when the voter is entitled to vote for only one candidate in that contest is an overvote.

Source: COUNTING VOTES 2012: A State by State Look at Voting Technology Preparedness, Verified Voting Foundation, Rutgers School of Law - Newark Constitutional Litigation Clinic & Common Cause Education Fund, https://countingvotes.org/sites/default/files/CountingVotes2012_Final_August2012.pdf

6. Marking the ballot for more than the maximum allowable number of candidates; this results in the ballot being rejected for that race and no vote being recorded.

Source: Independent Panel on Internet Voting, British Columbia, https://elections.bc.ca/docs/recommendations-report.pdf