Telegraph gets it wrong again: Boris was elected fairly

8 May 2008

Subjects:

Guy Aitchison (London, OK): The Telegraph's Three Line Whip blog reports that the total number of "spoiled ballot papers" which included "41,032 rejected first choice votes and 412,054 rejected second choice votes" was "three times the size of Boris Johnson’s 140,000-vote majority". A "fiasco", fumes the Telegraph's David Hughes, a "democratic travesty". The Electoral Commission must take actions since "who knows what the result might have been if there had not been such a spectacular display of voter confusion."

But a closer look at the technical breakdown given by the London Elects website (below) reveals that 407,840 of the 453, 086 rejected votes were from ballot papers that didn't give a second choice at all. Far from being a "spectacular display of voter confusion" this seems like a perfectly rational choice by those who either supported only one candidate or decided that it was always going to be a run off between Ken and Boris anyway. Sorry, Telegraph, it looks like Boris won fairly after all. Take a look.

Turnout and Technical Information

Electorate

5,419,913

Papers counted / turnout

2,456,990

Turnout

45.33%

Change in turnout from 2004

Good votes

1st choice

2nd choice

2,415,958

2,004,078

Rejected votes *

1st choice

2nd choice

41,032

412,054

Rejected votes totals include:

Blank **(no votes cast)

No 2nd preference ***

13,034

407,840

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