A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Sortition, also known as allotment, is an equal-chance method of selection by some form of lottery such as drawing coloured pebbles from a bag A by-election or bye-election (called special election in the United States) is an Election held to fill a political office that has become vacant Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an Election. A show election or a sham election is an Election that is held purely for show that is without any significant political purpose A Fixed-term election is an Election that occurs on a set date and cannot be changed by the incumbent politician A general election is an Election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election A primary election ( nominating primary) also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a Jurisdiction select candidates Indirect election is a process in which voters in an Election do not actually choose between candidates for an office but rather elect persons who will then make the choice Local Elections vary widely across Jurisdictions In Electoral systems that roughly follow the Westminster model, a terminology has evolved A referendum (plural referendums or referenda) ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita Apportionment is the process of allocating political power among a set of principles (or defined constituencies In multiple-party democratic primary elections crossover voting refers to a technique used by voters in which ballots are cast for the party a voter is opposed to in order to elect Gerrymandering is a form of redistribution in which electoral district or Constituency boundaries are manipulated for electoral advantage Redistricting, a form of redistribution, is the process of changing of political Borders in the United States The secret ballot is a voting method in which a Voter 's choices are confidential Suffrage (from the Latin suffragium, meaning "voting tablet" and figuratively "right to vote" probably from suffrago "hough" and originally A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral A voting system allows voters to choose between options often in an Election where candidates are selected for public office. Elections by country gives information on Elections For each De jure and De facto sovereign state and dependent territory The list of election results by country gives information on Elections For each De jure and De facto sovereign state and An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office A ballot is a device (originally a small ball—see blackball) used to record choices made by Voters Each voter uses one ballot and ballots are not Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu of actually writing in the candidate's name. Write-in candidates rarely win, and votes are often cast for ineligible people or fictional characters. Many jurisdictions require write-in candidates to be registered as candidates before the election. This is usually mandatory in elections with large pools of potential office-holders, as there may be multiple people with the name that is written in.

Write-in candidates are a holdover from the time when ballot papers were blank, and had no names printed on them at all. Gradually, the ballots were arranged to have all the names of the candidates printed on them, with a "write-in" provision for latecomers.

Many states and municipalities allow for write-in votes in a partisan primary where no candidate is listed on the ballot to have the same functional effect as nominating petitions: for example, if there are no Reform Party members on the ballot for state general assembly and a candidate receives more than 200 write-in votes when the primary election is held (or the other number of signatures that were required for ballot access), the candidate will be placed on the ballot on that ballot line for the general election. In most places, this provision is in place for non-partisan elections as well.

Contents 1 United States 1.1 President 1.2 Senate 1.3 House of Representatives 1.4 State Legislatures 1.5 Mayors/City Councils 1.6 Others 2 Other countries 3 Pop Culture 4 Notes

United States

Typically, write-in candidates have a very small chance of winning, but there have been some notable write-in candidates in the past.

President

• In 1992, consumer advocate Ralph Nader ran a write-in campaign for President of the United States in the New Hampshire primary. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) Consumer protection is a form of Government Regulation which protects the interests of Consumers For example a government may require businesses to disclose detailed Ralph Nader (born February 27 1934 is an American Attorney, Author, Lecturer, political activist, and independent candidate for President The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The New Hampshire primary is the first in a series of nationwide Political party Primary elections held in the United States every four years as part of Declaring himself the "none of the above candidate" and using the Concord Principles as his platform, Nader received 3,054 votes from Democrats and 3,258 votes from Republicans. None of the Above ( NOTA) or against all is a Ballot choice in some Jurisdictions or Organizations placed so as to allow the Ralph Nader 's Concord Principles were offered in 1992 as an invitation to the Presidential candidates to improve civic dialogue and the democratic The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party.

• In 1964, a write-in campaign organized by supporters of former U. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. S. Senator and vice presidential nominee Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. won Republican primaries for President in New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, defeating declared candidates Barry Goldwater, Nelson Rockefeller, and Margaret Chase Smith. The Vice President of the United States is the first person in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death Henry Cabot Lodge Jr ( July 5, 1902 &ndash February 27, 1985) was a Republican United States Senator from Massachusetts New Hampshire ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller ( July 8, 1908 January 26, 1979) was the forty-first Vice President of the United States, the forty-ninth Margaret Chase Smith ( December 14, 1897 – May 29, 1995) was a Republican Senator from Maine, and one

• In 1920, Eugene V. Debs, a staunch socialist who had been convicted by the Espionage Act of 1917 for an anti-war speech that he made in Columbus, Ohio. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Eugene Victor Debs (November 5 1855 &ndash October 20 1926 was an American union leader one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution The Espionage Act of 1917 was a United States federal law passed shortly after entering World War I on June 15 1917 which made it a Crime for a person Columbus is the Capital and the largest city of the US state of Ohio. In 1918, ran a write-in campaign from his federal prison cell in Atlanta, and received almost a million popular votes out of approximately 26 million cast. Year 1918 ( MCMXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common This is the most votes a Socialist Party candidate has ever received in US history.

Senate

• Democrat (later Republican) Strom Thurmond was elected in 1954 to the United States Senate in South Carolina as a write-in candidate. James Strom Thurmond ( December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who served as governor of South Carolina and The 1954 South Carolina United States Senate election was held on November 2, 1954 to select the next U The United States Senate is the Upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the Lower house being the House of Representatives South Carolina ( is a state in the southern region ( Deep South) of the United States of America.

House of Representatives

• In 1930 Republican Charles F. Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Curry, Jr. was elected to the House as a write-in from Sacramento, California. His father, Congressman Charles Curry Sr. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses , was to appear on the ballot, but due to his untimely death his name was removed and no candidate's name appeared on the ballot.
• Democrat Dale Alford was elected as a write-in candidate to the United States House of Representatives in Arkansas in 1958. Thomas Dale Alford Sr ( January 28 1916 - January 25 2000) was an Ophthalmologist and Politician from the U The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. As member of the Little Rock school board, Alford launched his write-in campaign a week before the election because the incumbent, Brooks Hays, was involved in the incident in which president Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce racial integration at Little Rock Central High School. The Little Rock School District is a School district in Little Rock, Arkansas. Lawrence Brooks Hays ( 9 August 1898 - 11 October 1981) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14 1890 – March 28 1969 was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general Racial integration, or simply integration includes Desegregation (the process of ending systematic Racial segregation) Little Rock Central High School is a secondary school Central is located at the intersection of Daisy L Racial integration was unpopular at the time, and Alford won by approximately 1,200 votes, a 2% margin. ^[1]
• Republican Joe Skeen was elected as a write-in candidate to Congress in New Mexico in November 1980 after the incumbent Democrat, Harold Runnels, died in August of that year. Joseph Richard "Joe" Skeen ( June 30, 1927 &ndash December 7, 2003) was a conservative Republican congressman Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Userpolbot from http//bioguidecongressgov/scripts/biodisplaypl?index=R000510 No Republican filed to run against Runnels before the close of filing, and after the death, the New Mexico Secretary of State ruled that the Democrats could have a special primary to pick a replacement candidate, but the Republicans could not have a special election, since they had nobody to replace. Runnels' widow lost the special primary, and launched her own write-in candidacy, which split the Democratic vote and allowed Skeen to win with a 38% plurality. ^[1]
• Ron Packard of California finished in second place in the 18 candidate Republican primary to replace the retiring Clair Burgener. Ronald C Packard DMD (born January 19, 1931) is a retired Republican Politician from California who served in Sinclair Walter "Clair" Burgener ( December 5 1921 – September 9 2006) was an American Republican Politician Packard lost the primary by 92 votes in 1982, and then mounted a write-in campaign as an independent. Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) He won the election with a 37% plurality against both a Republican and a Democratic candidate. Following the elections, he re-aligned himself as a Republican. ^[1]
• Democrat Charlie Wilson was the endorsed candidate by the Democratic Party for the 6th congressional district in Ohio to replace Ted Strickland in 2006. Charles A "Charlie" Wilson (b January 18 1943 in Bridgeport Ohio) is a Democratic Politician from the U Ohio is divided into 18 congressional districts, each represented by a United States Representative. Ted Strickland (born August 4 1941) is an American politician of the Democratic party, and the current governor of the state Strickland was running for Governor and had to give up his congressional seat. Wilson, though, did not qualify for the ballot because only 46 of the 96 signatures on his candidacy petition were deemed valid, while 50 valid signatures were required for ballot placement. The Democratic Party continued to support Wilson, and an expensive primary campaign ensued - over $1 million was spent by both parties. Wilson overwhelmingly won the Democratic primary as a write-in candidate on May 2, 2006 against two Democratic candidates whose names were on the ballot, with Wilson collecting 44,367 votes, 67% of the Democratic votes cast. Events 1194 - King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[2] Wilson faced Republican Chuck Blasdel in the general election on November 7, 2006, and won, receiving 61% of the votes. Events 1492 - The Ensisheim Meteorite the oldest Meteorite with a known date of impact strikes the Earth around noon in a Wheat Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.
• Shelley Sekula-Gibbs failed as a write-in candidate in the November 7, 2006 election to represent the 22nd Texas congressional district in the 110th Congress (for the full term commencing January 3, 2007). Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (born June 22, 1952 in Floresville Texas) is a Physician and a former member of the United States House of Representatives Events 1492 - The Ensisheim Meteorite the oldest Meteorite with a known date of impact strikes the Earth around noon in a Wheat Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The seat had been vacant since June 9, 2006, due to the resignation of the then representative, Tom DeLay. Events 53 - Roman Emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia 62 - Claudia Octavia commits Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Thomas Dale DeLay (born April 8 1947 is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Sugar Land, Texas. Therefore, on the same ballot, there were two races: one for the 110th Congress, as well as a race for the unexpired portion of the term during the 109th Congress (until January 3, 2007). Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Sekula-Gibbs won the race for the unexpired portion of the term during the 109th Congress as a candidate listed on the ballot. She could not be listed on the ballot for the full term because Texas law did not allow a replacement candidate to be listed on the ballot after the winner of the primary (Tom DeLay) has resigned. Thomas Dale DeLay (born April 8 1947 is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Sugar Land, Texas.

State Legislatures

• Charlotte Burks won as a Democratic write-in candidate for the Tennessee State Senate seat left vacant when the incumbent, her husband Tommy, was assassinated by his opponent, Byron Looper, two weeks before the elections of November 2, 1998. Charlotte Gentry Burks (born October 3, 1942) is a Farmer and Democratic party Politician in Tennessee, U Tommy Burks ( May 22, 1940 &ndash October 19, 1998) was a Farmer and Democratic party politician in Tennessee "Lowtax" redirects here For the Something Awful website founder see Something Awful. Events 1570 - A Tidal wave in the North Sea devastates the coast from Holland to Jutland, killing more than 1000 Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) Because the assassination occurred only two weeks prior to the elections, the names of the dead incumbent and his assassin remained on the ballot, and Charlotte ran as a write in candidate.
• Carl Hawkinson of Galesburg, Illinois won the Republican primary for State Senator from Illinois' 47th District in 1986 as a write-in candidate. Carl Hawkinson is a former state legislator State's Attorney, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Public Safety in the State of Illinois Galesburg is the name of some places in the United States of America: Galesburg Illinois Galesburg Kansas Galesburg He went on to be elected in the general election and served until 2003. Hawkinson defeated another write-in, David Leitch, in the primary. Incumbent State Senator Prescott Bloom died in a home fire after the filing date for the primary had passed.

Mayors/City Councils

• Julia Allen of Readington, New Jersey won a write-in campaign in the November 2005 elections for the Township Committee,^[3] after a candidate accused of corruption had won the primary. Readington Township is a Township located in the easternmost portion of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. ^[4]
• Tom Ammiano, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, entered the race for Mayor of San Francisco, California as a write-in candidate two weeks before the 1999 general election. Tom Ammiano (born December 15 1941 is an American politician and LGBT activist from San Francisco California. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislature of the City and County of San Francisco, California. A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) He received 25% of the vote, coming in second place and forcing incumbent Mayor Willie Brown into a runoff election, which Brown won by margin of 59% to 40%. Willie Lewis Brown Jr (born March 20, 1934) served over thirty years in the California State Assembly, fifteen years as its Speaker and afterwards The two-round system (also known as the second ballot or runoff voting) is a Voting system used to elect a single winner In 2001, the campaign was immortalized in the award-winning documentary film See How They Run. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or another to " Document " reality
• Donna Frye ran as a write-in candidate for Mayor of San Diego, California in 2004. Donna Frye (January 20 1952&ndash is a member of the San Diego City Council, representing District 6 "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " A controversy erupted when several thousand votes for her were not counted because the voters had failed to fill in the bubble next to the write-in line. Had those votes been counted, she would have won the election.
• Michael Jarjura was re-elected Mayor of Waterbury, Connecticut in 2005 as a write-in candidate after losing the Democratic party primary to Karen Mulcahy, who used to serve as Waterbury's tax collector before Jarjura fired her in 2004 "for what he claimed was her rude and abusive conduct toward citizens. Michael Jarjura is the Mayor of Waterbury Connecticut. He was first elected in 2001 and reelected in 2003 ". ^[5] After spending $100,000 on a general elections write-in campaign,^[6] Jarjura received 7,907 votes, enough for a plurality of 39%. ^[7]
• James Maher won the mayorship of Baxter Estates, New York on March 15, 2005 as a write-in candidate with 29 votes. The Village of Baxter Estates (also known as VBE) is a Village in Nassau County, New York, United States (in the Town of North Events 44 BC - Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Being the only one on the ballot, the incumbent mayor, James Neville, did not campaign, as he did not realize that there was a write-in campaign going on. Neville received only 13 votes. ^[8]
• Beverly O'Neil won a third term as Mayor of Long Beach, California as a write-in candidate in 2002. Long Beach is a city located in southern California, USA, on the Pacific coast The Long Beach City City Charter has a term limit amendment that says a candidate cannot be on the ballot after two full terms, but does not prevent the person from running as a write-in candidate. See also Rotation in office A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office [1] She finished first in a seven-candidate primary, but did not receive more than 50% of the vote, forcing a runoff contest. In the runoff, still restricted from the ballot, she got roughly 47% of the vote in a three-way election that included a second write-in candidate. [2]
• Michael Sessions, an 18-year-old high school senior, won as a write-in candidate for Mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan in 2005. Michael Sessions (born September 22, 1987) is the Mayor of Hillsdale, a city of about 8200 people in the U Hillsdale is a city in the state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8233 Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He was too young to qualify for the ballot.
• Anthony A. Williams, the former Mayor of Washington, DC was forced to run as a write-in candidate in the 2002 Democratic primary, because he had too many invalid signatures for his petition. Anthony Allen "Tony" Williams (born July 28 1951, in Los Angeles California) is an American Politician who served Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. He won the Democratic primary, and went on to win re-election.

Others

• John Adams became an Orange County, California judge in November 2002 after running along with 10 other write-in candidates in the primaries on March 5, 2002 against incumbent Judge Ronald Kline. Orange County is a county in Southern California, United States. November 2002: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[9] After the filing deadline in which no candidate filed to run against Kline, a computer hacker discovered that Judge Kline had child pornography on his home computer. Kline got less than 50% of the vote in the primaries, requiring a runoff between him and write-in candidate John Adams (who actually received more votes than Kline). ^[10] After some legal maneuvers, Kline's name was removed from the general elections, leaving the general election a runoff between Adams and Gay Sandoval, who was the second highest write-in vote getter. ^[11] Charges against Kline were eventually thrown out. ^[12]

• Aaron Schock was elected to the District 150 School Board in Peoria, Illinois in 2001 by a write-in vote, after his petitions were challenged and his name was removed from the ballot. Aaron Schock (born May 28, 1981) is a millionaire Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 92nd district Peoria Illinois (named after the Peoria tribe is the largest city on the Illinois River and the County seat of Peoria County, Illinois He defeated the incumbent by over 2,000 votes, approximately 6,400 to 4,300 votes. ^[13] He went on to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives. The Illinois House of Representatives is the Lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U

Other countries

With a few exceptions, the practice of recognizing write-in candidates is typically viewed internationally as an American tradition. Politics of the United States takes place in the framework of a presidential, Federal republic where the President of the United States (the Head of ^[14][15]

• Several cases of elected write-in candidates took place in the 2006 Swedish municipal elections. Due to Swedish electoral law, free ballots are provided for any party that received more than 1 percent of the votes in one of the two latest parliamentary elections, irrespective of whether the party actually stood any candidates in the municipality. In some municipalities, voters cast a sufficient number of ballots for the nationalist Sweden Democrats to allow them to get a seat on the municipal council. Sweden Democrats ( Sverigedemokraterna, SD) founded in 1988 by Leif Zeilon, is a Swedish Far right political party (Municipal councils in Sweden are relatively large, with even the smallest municipalities, numbering just a few thousand inhabitants, required to have a council of at least 31 members. ) In case the party did not field any eligible candidates, people whose names were written in were elected, though many subsequently resigned their seats. In places where no candidates were written in, the seats were left empty. ^[16]

• A strange incident involving a fictitious write-in candidacy occurred in the small town of Picoazà, Ecuador in 1967. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Ecuador topics. Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. A company ran a series of campaign-themed advertisements for a foot powder called Pulvapies. Some of the slogans used included "Vote for any candidate, but if you want well-being and hygiene, vote for Pulvapies", and "For Mayor: Honorable Pulvapies. " The foot powder Pulvapies ended up receiving the most votes in the election. ^[17]

• In Brazil, until the introduction of electronic voting in 1994, the ballot had no names written for legislative candidates, so many voters would protest by voting on fictional characters or religious figures. Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is a term encompassing several different types of Voting, embracing both electronic means of casting a vote and electronic A legislature is a type of representative Deliberative assembly with the power to create amend and change Laws The law created by a legislature is called Legislation However, those votes were not considered because Brazilian law stipulates that every person must be affiliated to a political party to take office.

Pop Culture

• In the 1980 US Presidential election, rock star Joe Walsh ran a mock write-in campaign, promising to make his song "Life's Been Good" the new national anthem if he won, and running on a platform of "Free Gas For Everyone. The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent Ronald Reagan Joseph Fidler "Joe" Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American Guitarist, songwriter and Rock musician He has been a " Though Walsh was not old enough to actually assume the office, he wanted to raise public awareness of the election.

• During the 2000 United States Congress Elections, filmmaker Michael Moore led a campaign for voters to submit a ficus tree as a write-in candidate. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses Michael Francis Moore (born April 23 1954 is an Academy Award -winning American filmmaker author and liberal Political commentator. Ficus is a Genus of about 850 Species of woody Trees Shrubs Vines Epiphytes and hemi-epiphytes in the family This campaign was replicated across the country and was recounted in an episode of The Awful Truth. The Awful Truth (1999-2000 was a satirical Television show that was directed written and hosted by filmmaker Michael Moore, and funded

Notes

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