Open Source: How are write-in votes counted?

MOUNT VERNON — As early voting begins for the Nov. 4 General Election, many constituents will find blank lines on their ballot for write-in candidates.

In August, the Knox County Board of Elections certified 16 write-in candidates for positions ranging from school boards to township trustees to council seats.

“To our knowledge, this is the greatest number of write-ins Knox County has seen,” BOE Deputy Director Jack Goodman said.

One Knox Pages reader asked how write-in votes are counted.

“Do I have to spell the name right? Can I write just the last name or first name? How do they decide what is a good vote and what’s a bad vote?” our reader asked.

BOE Director James Blazer said the state has strict guidelines the BOE must adhere to for write-in candidates.

“Each polling location has a list of [of write-in candidates’] names. It’s with the manager. The manager holds it and can show it to [voters.] They can take a picture of it if they like,” he said.

“We generally don’t like cameras, but for this, they can take a picture of it because there are a lot of write-ins depending on where you live.

“The idea is to make it easier for people to vote, but it’s something that is guided by law,” Blazer added.

However, voters must ask for the list. The BOE cannot publicly post it.

“The issue would be if we put them up, that would be privileging the write-in candidates over the non write-ins,” Goodman explained.

Voters can also bring a list of names with them.

Casting a valid write-in vote

Goodman said the BOE will accept different variations of the name.

“We will err on the side of voter intent,” he said. “Jim and I will review them together on election night. What we’re looking for is can we determine voter intent, who they wanted to vote for.”

Blazer said voters generally write in the first and last name. However, the BOE will accept either the last name or the first name.

He cautioned, however, that using only the first name is problematic if two candidates share the same first name.

Elections staff will also accept misspelled names.

“As long as it’s close. If they spell it phonetically, that’s OK,” Blazer said. “If it’s a slight misspelling, I don’t see any issues. We have to be able to determine what their intent was when they were writing it.

“If it’s so garbled we can’t determine between two of the names, we may not be able to count it.”

Merely writing in a name is not enough, however.

“You also have to shade in the little bubble, because if you don’t shade in the bubble, it doesn’t count,” Goodman said.

Voters using the express voting machines would make their selection and then type in the name.

“If you write in the same name on different lines, it doesn’t count more than once,” Goodman said.

Tallying the write-in vote

Write-in votes are typically counted and reviewed the morning after the election. For this election, Blazer and Goodman will do that on Tuesday night, making an already long day potentially longer.

“We expect that for any competitive race folks should know who is the unofficial results winner on Tuesday night,” Goodman said.

“You also have to shade in the little bubble, because if you don’t shade in the bubble, it doesn’t count.”

Jack Goodman, Deputy director knox county board of elections

He noted, however, that it takes time to review the votes, and results might be later than usual.

Goodman said voters need to educate themselves about the write-in voting process and need to come prepared.

“We’ll have that [write-in candidate] list, but it’s better if voters do their research,” he said. “There is a whole list of candidates and contests online. They can find their sample ballot online, take a look at it and practice if they want, and be prepared.”