About That Write-In-Vote Option for President…
In response to the October 08, 2016, Washington Post release of the 2005 “lewd comments” tape, many leaders in Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s own party are publicly stating their plans to not vote for Trump and instead opt to “write in” a name on the November 08th, 2016, presidential ballot.
However, as NBC News journalist Zachary Roth points out, the rules for write-in candidates vary by state. In short, only 7 states allow write-in candidates without any previous filing requirements:
- Iowa
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
Nine states do not allow write-in votes, period:
- Arkansas
- Hawaii
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
The remaining 34 states allow for write-in votes during the presidential election; however, the prospective write-in candidates must register as candidates prior to the election– and they must do so in each state and in accordance with the deadlines in each state.
Below are the write-in candidate deadlines for 7 states. Note that only one is within 30 days of the November 08, 2016, election:
- California: May 17, 2016
- Florida: September 20, 2016 (49th day prior to the election)
- Indiana: July 03, 2016
- Michigan: October 28, 2016 (2nd Friday immediately preceding election)
- North Carolina: August 10, 2016 (90 days prior to election)
- Ohio: August 29, 2016
- Texas: August 22, 2016
Surely those Republican politicians publicly declaring their intention to write in a vote for president know that in most states, write-in voting will not count. However, publicly stating the intent to write in the name of a Republican who is not Donald Trump as About That Write-In-Vote Option for President… | deutsch29:
