whats a total write in?
 

the election results in Alaska: 40% total write in

Incumbent Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski ran as a write-in candidate after losing in the Republican primary to Joe Miller.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...110302555.html

Sounds like around 40% of voters opted to go with a write-in ballot, presumably to vote for Murkowski; if so, and if the current percentages for the other candidates stay at 34% and 24% respectively, she will have won the election and kept her Senate seat.

While different states have different rules, in Virginia, write-in votes have almost no chance of ever passing.

In Virginia, each write-in vote has to be an exact match in order to be counted together.

Lee Oswald
Lee H Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Mr. Oswald
LH Oswald
L. H. Oswald

All count as separate votes, each with one vote. If a candidate is seriously considering being a write-in candidate, they really need to advertise so that everyone knows exactly how to write in the vote. :yep:

As an election officer, I cringed when I heard that Alaska is considering evaluating "voter intent". :damn::damn::damn:

This is so wrong. It is the duty of the election officials to count the valid ballots. If a ballot is not valid, it is not valid. Introducing voter intent is a sloppy way to introduce bias and subjectivity into what should be a binary decision -- the ballot is valid or it is not.

Best example ever.

Wow, i didn't know that could happen

Great post, and true.

She's a spoil sport, frankly. She lost fair and square in the primary, they throws a fit. Same is true of any candidate of any party that switches sides or becomes an "independent" because they lost a primary. They are all weasels—which is saying something given the company they are in to start with.

the downsize of a write-in is that you need a litarate population :O: (edit: haha, just noticed my spelling mistake - so I'm neither a proper voter)

My questions, mainly @ Platapus are:
1. Does the name of the write-in candidate has to be fully spelled or is just the common used first- and lastname sufficent? Could be funny with hispanic candidates if you have to spell out the whole names...

2. What if someone has a popular name, how can the voter intention be sorted out? Or would there be a second ballot (or mudwrestling) between all candidates with the same name if a "Jane Smith" would win?

I know what common sense would tell me, but (voting) laws and sense are often a contradiction

Damnit that means that all my votes for:
Grassy Knoll
G. Knoll
Lawn Hill
Grassy Mound
Turfed Tump
Knassy Groll

Were useless?!

No not useless, but each was counted separately for a total of 1 vote for 6 write-in candidates. :D

Excellent questions and ones deserving a serious answer.

Please note that my answers may only pertain to the Commonwealth of Virginia. Other states may or may not have different laws and regulations.

Let me try to answer both of these questions at the same time.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet." - Billy Shakespeare

You have asked one of the most disputed questions concerning Write-in votes. The Code of Virginia section 24.2-644 states

Subsection C (in part) Subsection D (in part) No where is it defined what is or is not "the name", In Virginia, write-in votes are counted a minimum of two times by completely different groups of people. At no time is only one person allowed to count any vote (Stalin would not have liked Virginia).

In the first counting which is done at the precinct level, each variation of the spelling of the write-in vote is counted separately. Then the ballots are sent to the State Board of Election to be recounted.

Virginia Code section 24.2-644 subsection A (in entirety) states

The $64 dollar question is: Does subsection A apply to subsections C and D? The answer in typical government legalese is: Yes, no and maybe. :damn:

During this second count there are representatives from all the political parties as well as representatives from the citizenry observing these counts. Any ballot can be challenged and then will be examined in accordance of the entire state law. Arguments ensue and this is why the counting of the votes can take months. And yes, jerks from all the parties sometimes attempt to stall the system by whining about challenges. :damn::damn: Sucks to be on the SBE.

Ever wonder why there is such a long time between election day and when the person takes office? This is one of the reasons.

Now, it should be noted that in Virginia, for the Office of the President and Vice President, there are limitations on who can be written in. No write in vote will be counted unless the person who was written has previously submitted a Certificate of Intent to the State Board of Elections.

That means that when you write Mickey Mouse as your write in vote for President, it is not counted at all.

Specifically addressing your second question of common names, fortunately, this has not come up in Virginia Elections as of yet.

I think it would only become an issue if "Jane Smith" received a plurality of the votes, which is unlikely. However, I do believe that the state should have a back up plan, just in case this ever does happen.

Did I obfuscate this answer sufficiently to confuse the issue? :D

Yes thanks for the long answer and for more confusion! :DL
I'll start a campaign: "Vote for Jane Doe!"
Sounds like the AK race could become exiting if they have simular fuzzy laws.
In my laymen's terms I would interprete subsection A that the write-in vote only counts if the square next to it is checked. The voters intention sentence was maybe applied only to avoid pointless discussion like: is it a check (legal) or is it an illegal "V" - as long as it looks like a duck and quakes like one...

In Germany we only use the cross - contingent with our history :D. Like for anything here, we also have regulations for this. It only counts if it consists of two lines which both meet inside the circle. We don't have write-ins, in fact writing a name on the paper makes the vote void :cry:

Apparently Jimmy Carter went though something similar regarding using exact names.

In 1976 when he was running for president the Maine election committee refused to allow his name to appear as "Jimmy Carter" instead demanding he use his full name "James Earl Carter".

This was not too long after Dr. King was killed by a guy named "James Earl Ray".

He had to write an affidavit stating that he was known as Jimmy and to ask that an exception be made so as not to be confused with Ray and also since many voters might not recognize him if he used his full name.

The issue in Alaska is 2 fold. First, there were over 160 registered and valid "write in" candidates. That number is actually unheard of in most races. One of them has the name of Lisa Murkowski, the "main" write in candidate. However, there are at least three other candidates with similiar names....


What happens if someone puts Lisa M and thats it? Who gets that vote? What if they just put L. M.?

Because its a write in, each ballot will need to be examined to determine "voter intent". The 2nd problem is that the law in Alaska is that you have to spell the name fully and correctly. However the courts have eased that in stating that if voter intent can be determined, the vote will count. The problem is what constitutes voter intent, since its a subjective standard. Especially considering write in is exactly that - every person writes in their own hand, who they vote for. Think of the differences in penmanship....

Additionally, there are oroughly 30,000 "absentee" ballots - ballots cast and mailed in. These are mostly military ballots, but definitely not all of them will be. They have yet to be counted.

So you have a difference of about 6-7 thousand votes in the "write in" category, but no one knows if the write ins are all for Lisa Murkowski. If they are not, then the difference decreases, perhaps substantially. Then you need to count the outstanding absentee ballots as well. A race should not be considered over until its is a mathematical lock, and its extremely likely that when everything is counted, Lisa Murkowski will not win.

Write in ? Something Palins daughter couldn't grasp the concept of. :haha:

She's the "Billy Carter, Roger Clinton " of the Palin tribe. :har:

Hmmm - taking pot shots at the kids of a politico you don't like - out of the blue to boot? Really classy there mate....

As for Palin's daughter - in case you haven't noticed, pretty much every kid that age is pretty much stupid when it comes to recognizing life changing decisions and actions..... If you doubt it, try looking up teen pregnancy rates...