Want to get rid of today's politicians and their salaries? Blank Seats leaves them empty
An empty seat is filled by no one and no salary is paid. What happens with abstention, invalid votes and blank ballots when seats are allocated.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Voting for a blank-seat candidacy does not remove the seat: it leaves it unfilled and unpaid. Abstention, invalid votes and blank ballots do not translate into institutional representation.
The **Blank Seats** (Escaños en Blanco) ballot proposes something simple to explain and hard to fit into the system: that the seat it wins should remain empty. No one occupies it, no salary or allowances are paid. The savings are real, though limited to the seats that candidacy wins.
## What happens to the seat nobody takes
The candidacy stands in the election and, if it wins representation, its elected members refuse to take up the seat. The seat has no holder. There are no votes in Parliament, no speeches, no salary assigned to any specific person.
The savings are limited to the pay of that position and the associated allowances. It does not change the majorities needed to pass laws, because empty seats do not vote either for or against. The seat exists, but it is silent.
## Abstention, invalid votes and blank ballots never reach the institutions
Those who do not vote, those who cast an invalid ballot and those who vote blank disappear from the count that allocates seats. Abstention is not counted as a vote. An invalid vote is not added to any candidacy. A blank ballot is counted as a valid vote, but is not assigned to any list.
The result is that these votes do not translate into representation. They elect no one, take nothing away from anyone and do not reduce the number of seats to be allocated. They only leave a numerical record in the official minutes.
## The Madrid case and the Latino vote
In the 2021 Madrid election, **Isabel Díaz Ayuso** won by a wide margin. Part of the electorate of Latin American origin backed the **PP** (Spain's conservative People's Party), and abstention was high. That mix of mobilised voters and absent electorate explains the result better than any theory about empty seats.
Abstention does not take seats away from anyone. It simply leaves the allocation in the hands of those who do vote. That is why it is worth looking at the numbers before assuming that an empty seat changes the balance of power.
If this issue matters to you when deciding your vote, check the current electoral rules and, if you have legal doubts, consult a professional.
The **Blank Seats** (Escaños en Blanco) ballot proposes something simple to explain and hard to fit into the system: that the seat it wins should remain empty. No one occupies it, no salary or allowances are paid. The savings are real, though limited to the seats that candidacy wins.
## What happens to the seat nobody takes
The candidacy stands in the election and, if it wins representation, its elected members refuse to take up the seat. The seat has no holder. There are no votes in Parliament, no speeches, no salary assigned to any specific person.
The savings are limited to the pay of that position and the associated allowances. It does not change the majorities needed to pass laws, because empty seats do not vote either for or against. The seat exists, but it is silent.
## Abstention, invalid votes and blank ballots never reach the institutions
Those who do not vote, those who cast an invalid ballot and those who vote blank disappear from the count that allocates seats. Abstention is not counted as a vote. An invalid vote is not added to any candidacy. A blank ballot is counted as a valid vote, but is not assigned to any list.
The result is that these votes do not translate into representation. They elect no one, take nothing away from anyone and do not reduce the number of seats to be allocated. They only leave a numerical record in the official minutes.
## The Madrid case and the Latino vote
In the 2021 Madrid election, **Isabel Díaz Ayuso** won by a wide margin. Part of the electorate of Latin American origin backed the **PP** (Spain's conservative People's Party), and abstention was high. That mix of mobilised voters and absent electorate explains the result better than any theory about empty seats.
Abstention does not take seats away from anyone. It simply leaves the allocation in the hands of those who do vote. That is why it is worth looking at the numbers before assuming that an empty seat changes the balance of power.
If this issue matters to you when deciding your vote, check the current electoral rules and, if you have legal doubts, consult a professional.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (5 replies).
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