BallotSelection

  • BallotSelection is used to identify ballot selections in a contest.

  • BallotSelection includes CandidateSelection, PartySelection, and BallotMeasureSelection.

  • BallotSelection can be used with pre-election data and election results feeds.

  • BallotSelection is not used with officeholder feeds.

Use BallotSelection to identify the ballot selections in a contest, such as when you link candidates and parties to their vote counts.

This document discusses BallotSelection and its sub-entities:

  • BallotSelection
    • CandidateSelection
    • PartySelection
    • BallotMeasureSelection
    • SpecialBallotSelection

Select one of the following feed types to learn more about how to use BallotSelection and its inherent elements with that type of feed.

SpecialBallotSelection

This type of BallotSelection is used for vote count aggregations (e.g. aggregating multiple candidates into "Others") and different kinds of non-votes (i.e. blank ballots, null or spoiled ballots, and "none of the above" votes).

SpecialBallotSelection should not be used in the general BallotSelection subelement of Contest and instead has its own distinct fields on Contest, namely AggregateBallotSelection, BlankBallotSelection, NoneOfTheAboveBallotSelection, and NullBallotSelection. See Contest elements for more details.

Elements

The following table describes the elements for SpecialBallotSelection:

Element Multiplicity Type Description
CountedInTotal 0 or 1 boolean Whether the entity selection's vote counts are counted in the total votes cast considered noteworthy. Assumed true if unspecified.
ExternalIdentifiers 0 or 1 ExternalIdentifiers Associates an ID with the ballot measure selection. A stable identifier is required.
Selection 1 InternationalizedText Provides a name for this ballot selection, such as "Others" or "None of the above".

Examples

XML

    <AggregateBallotSelection objectId="selection3">
      <Selection>
        <Text language="en">Other Candidates</Text>
      </Selection>
      <ExternalIdentifiers>
        <ExternalIdentifier>
          <Type>other</Type>
          <OtherType>stable</OtherType>
          <Value>selection3</Value>
        </ExternalIdentifier>
      </ExternalIdentifiers>
    </AggregateBallotSelection>
    <!-- Counts of ballots left blank -->
    <BlankBallotSelection objectId="selection4">
      <Selection>
        <Text language="en">Blank ballots</Text>
      </Selection>
      <!-- These ballots count in the total and can affect majorities -->
      <CountedInTotal>true</CountedInTotal>
      <ExternalIdentifiers>
        <ExternalIdentifier>
          <Type>other</Type>
          <OtherType>stable</OtherType>
          <Value>selection4</Value>
        </ExternalIdentifier>
      </ExternalIdentifiers>
    </BlankBallotSelection>
    <!-- Votes for "None of the above" option on the ballot -->
    <NoneOfTheAboveBallotSelection objectId="selection5">
      <!--
        The NOTA selection optiona as it appears on the ballot, often
        "None of the above", "None", or "Uncommitted"
      -->
      <Selection>
        <Text language="en">None</Text>
      </Selection>
      <!-- These ballots count in the total and can affect majorities -->
      <CountedInTotal>true</CountedInTotal>
      <ExternalIdentifiers>
        <ExternalIdentifier>
          <Type>other</Type>
          <OtherType>stable</OtherType>
          <Value>selection5</Value>
        </ExternalIdentifier>
      </ExternalIdentifiers>
    </NoneOfTheAboveBallotSelection>
    <!--
      Counts of null or spoiled ballots, i.e. ballots that have been marked in
      a way that the vote cannot be counted
    -->
    <NullBallotSelection objectId="selection5">
      <!--
        How these ballots are often called in a given country, often
        "null" or "spoiled"
      -->
      <Selection>
        <Text language="en">Spoiled ballots</Text>
      </Selection>
      <!--
        These ballots do count in the total and are treated as the same as
        if this vote did not happen at all
      -->
      <CountedInTotal>false</CountedInTotal>
      <ExternalIdentifiers>
        <ExternalIdentifier>
          <Type>other</Type>
          <OtherType>stable</OtherType>
          <Value>selection5</Value>
        </ExternalIdentifier>
      </ExternalIdentifiers>
    </NullBallotSelection>

JSON

    "AggregateBallotSelection": {
      "objectId": "selection3",
      "Selection": {
        "Text": {
          "@language": "en",
          "#text": "Other Candidates"
        }
      },
      "ExternalIdentifiers": {
        "ExternalIdentifier": {
          "Type": "other",
          "OtherType": "stable",
          "Value": "selection3"
        }
      },
    },
    "BlankBallotSelection": {
      "objectId": "selection4",
      "Selection": {
        "Text": {
          "@language": "en",
          "#text": "Blank Ballots"
        }
      },
      "CountedInTotal": true,
      "ExternalIdentifiers": {
        "ExternalIdentifier": {
          "Type": "other",
          "OtherType": "stable",
          "Value": "selection4"
        }
      }
    },
    "NoneOfTheAboveBallotSelection": {
      "objectId": "selection5",
      "Selection": {
        "Text": {
          "@language": "en",
          "#text": "None"
        }
      },
      "CountedInTotal": true,
      "ExternalIdentifiers": {
        "ExternalIdentifier": {
          "Type": "other",
          "OtherType": "stable",
          "Value": "selection5"
        }
      }
    },
    "NullBallotSelection": {
      "objectId": "selection5",
      "Selection": {
        "Text": {
          "@language": "en",
          "#text": "Spoiled ballots"
        }
      },
      "CountedInTotal": false,
      "ExternalIdentifiers": {
        "ExternalIdentifier": {
          "Type": "other",
          "OtherType": "stable",
          "Value": "selection5"
        }
      }
    }