Saturday, October 30, 1999
Write-in candidates aim to beat odds
Hopefuls try to get voters thinking outside the ballot
BY RICHELLE THOMPSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Voters have jokingly scribbled on the ballots their votes for Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse and even Saddam Hussein, but rarely does a serious write-in candidate have a fighting chance.
Write-in candidates in contested races must count on voters to bypass other names that appear on the ballot and instead pencil in their names on a blank line.
It's a lot to ask from an already apathetic electorate, conceded Tristate write-in candidates.
And yet, around the region, write-in candidates are running for a variety of reasons, and still hoping to beat the odds and defy history Tuesday.
“I realize it's practically almost impossible to get elected as a write-in candidate,” said Louis Moore Sr., a Clermont County man vying for a spot on the Batavia Township trustee board. “I know I'm fighting a long, uphill battle.”
While the Ohio Secretary of State's office does not keep sta tistics on the number of successful write-in campaigns, spokesman James Lee said it's fair to say successes are rare.
“It's generally more difficult to get a voter to write in a name of a candidate than to get a voter to punch a card or push a button,” he said.
A few have bucked the trend. Just last fall, write-in candidate Pat Stortz defeated four others listed on the ballot for a city commission seat in the small Kentucky community of Crestview. Four years ago, Noreen Dawson ran a write-in campaign for clerk of Wayne Township in Clermont County and beat her opponent, who was on the ballot, nearly 2-1.
But these are anomalies.
Going back 30 years, Gene Beaupre, a political science professor at Xavier University, said he hasn't “seen a write-in candidate even be a blip on the screen.”
Candidates with their names on the ballot have the advantage, said Kathy Curran, an administrative assistant who has worked at the Hamilton County Board of Elections for 14 years.
To succeed as a write-in candidate, she said, “As a rule of thumb, you really have to
work your fanny off.”
So why run?
Motivations vary among the handful of Tristate write-in candidates in contested races. Several candidates had problems with local election boards in getting approval of their petitions to appear on the ballot. Others wanted to make sure voters had a choice. Some simply wanted to stir up the pot.
“Nobody goes to the movies if there's no show,” said Hobart “Hoby” Anderson, a write-in candidate for Kentucky governor and two-term state representative. “I'm trying to produce a show.”
Campaigning with slogans such as “Hoby's the only friendly four-letter word left,” Mr. Anderson expects he'll spend about $5,000 on his statewide initiative.
A Republican, Mr. Anderson said he joined the race because the four candidates, including Democratic incumbent Gov. Paul Patton, weren't addressing issues he considered vital, such as tax reform, education and pro-life interests.
“If I can get 5 to 10 percent of the vote, that should send a message to Frankfort,” Mr. Anderson said. “I'm not going to be crazy enough to say I'm going to be the next governor.”
Mr. Moore, who was disqualified because of a technical problem with his petition, doesn't expect voters will return him as township trustee, a position he held for 36 years until last fall when he lost in a general election. But he also said voters should have a choice. On the ballot, Jim Bushman is running unopposed.
“All they're giving me (on the ballot) is a straight line and a goose egg, so I have to educate people to write my name and fill in the oval.”
Instead of campaign signs, Mr. Moore is relying on direct-mail fliers to explain the write-in process.
The local election board decides on what counts as a write-in vote. For example, the board determines whether to count a ballot with a write-in that is misspelled or only includes a first initial.
“We have always counted a write-in if it's close,” said Donald Travis, Clermont County's director of elections. “If the (board) sees the intent of the voter is clear, we'll allow the vote to go with the candidate it was intended for.”
Jane Davenport, a first-time candidate for Lebanon City Council, is going door-to-door to talk about issues of curbing growth and responsibly managing taxpayer money.
In these final days before Tuesday's election, Mrs. Davenport's focus is explaining to voters how to write her name on a gray envelope accompanying the ballot. A problem with her petitions kept her off the ballot, but she remained determined to run.
“People tell me I don't have a chance,” she said. “I don't know. I get a lot of positive remarks when I go to the door, but whether people will write down my name when they're in the voting booth is a different situation.”
If Mrs. Davenport is successful, she would be the first write-in candidate to win a contested race in Warren County in nearly 30 years. Warren County Board of Elections Director Bev Moore said she can't recall another write-in success in a contested race since she joined the department in 1975.
“If somebody really got out there and campaigned very, very hard, they probably could win,” Mrs. Moore said. “It's very difficult.”
Craig Wynett is running as a write-in candidate for school board in New Richmond because he wasn't allowed on the ballot after he signed on the wrong line of his petition.
“I just think it's a shame that the spirit of the law isn't as important as a technicality. A free election is very, very important,” said Denise Wynett, who said her husband is the only opposition to two incumbents on the ballot.
In uncontested races, write-ins typically are elected by numbers more similar to a football score than election day tallies.
Most uncontested races are in communities so small that not having a name on the ballot isn't really an obstacle; interested candidates simply rely on word of mouth.
In central Butler County, Jacksonburg — population 52 — doesn't have a single candidate on its ballot. But the four incumbents are running as write-ins for the four open positions, without any opponents.
Chilo, a southern Clermont County village of 130 people, and 35 registered voters, will elect a Stevenson as mayor Nov. 2. There's nobody on the ballot, but Billy Stevenson and his wife, Shana, filed with the election board as write-in candidates.
Mrs. Stevenson filed after the election board said her husband's petition may have problems. The board later ruled it was OK.
“I'll probably vote for my wife,” Mr. Stevenson said, “because she's the best man for the job.”
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