protest vote

noun

a ballot cast for a candidate with a minimal chance of winning, to register dislike for the other candidates.

First recorded in 1970–75

Traduce him, delegitimize him—and slow economic recovery in hopes that voters will cast a protest vote for the GOP.

Boehner won with 220 votes, although there were eight defectors and four abstentions—a small, but unmistakable protest vote.

Such a move, while unlikely to succeed, could produce an embarrassing protest vote.

The system's side effect is to invite the French to use their first ballot as a protest vote.

There are a lot of angry voters out there who may want to register a protest vote in 2012.

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