“Write In” Means “Write” In?

All of the talk about write-in candidates in CD-22 is quite amusing. Although I do think write-ins could be dangerous, I don’t think Nick Lampson is in too much danger. I’m unfamilair with how write-in candidacies work in other states, but I do know that the Wallace Campaign’s Ted Delisi has made some misleading statements previously about how seemingly easy it will be for Wallace to wage and win a write in campaign.

Here’s one Delisi statement:

Wallace campaign consultant Ted Delisi said Wallace has until the end of the month to become a qualified write-in candidate. His name would not appear on the ballot, but Delisi said he believes Wallace’s name would appear where voters could see it, somewhere in the area around the voting machines used in Fort Bend, Harris, Galveston and Brazoria counties.

First off, here’s what the election code prescribes:

§ 146.031. LIST OF WRITE-IN CANDIDATES.  (a) The authority responsible for having the official ballot prepared shall prepare a list containing the name of each write-in candidate certified to the authority.  Each name must appear in the form in  which it is certified.
(b)  A write-in candidate’s name may not appear more than once on the list.
(c)  Copies of the list shall be distributed to the counting officers in the election for use in counting write-in votes.
(d)  Copies of the list shall be distributed to each presiding election judge with the other election supplies.  A copy of the list shall be posted in each polling place at each place where an instruction poster is required to be posted.
(e)  The authority responsible for having the official ballot prepared shall retain a copy of the list and preserve it for  the period for preserving the precinct election records.

Note that, as the law reads, this doesn’t have to be a big sign or anything. As I interpret it, it could be the size of a Post-It Note. In past elections, I’ve seen the “write-in” list on 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of paper and on sheets half that size, with the names written in about 14 point type, so it’s not like they are screaming out at you.

As for having names all over the polling place, think again. The list must be placed in the same areas where posters required elsewhere in the election code about casting your vote are supposed to appear. Here’s where the posters are supposed to go:

§ 62.011. INSTRUCTION POSTER.  (a) An election officer shall post an instruction poster:
(1)  in each voting station;  and
(2)  in one or more other locations in the polling place where it can be read by persons waiting to vote.

“One or more,” means “one” or “more.” It’s up to the person manning the polling place. I do interpret “station” to mean each voting booth (or what passes for a voting booth in the counties using ESlate machines). I’m not sure that these instructions couldn’t be actually incorporated into some kind of intro piece you read before you get to the ballot on the ESlates, although I’d tend to doubt that.
Finally, to add to the confusion, consider this:

§ 146.001. WRITE-IN VOTES PERMITTED.  Except as otherwise  provided by law, if the name of the person for whom a voter desires to vote does not appear on the ballot, the voter may write in the name of that person.

I’m sure there is some place in the election code where there is a big long spiel about how the whole thing conforms to and is interpreted to allow for electronic voting, but I wonder: does “write-in” mean “write” in? Does ESlating count as being written in?

Given the terrible problems with electronic voting machines without a paper trail, perhaps “write-in” should mean just that. Hum…

Also, it is important to keep in mind that people voting a straight party Republican ticket do not cast votes for anyone in the CD-22 election unless they write someone in.

In Fort Bend County alone, more than 51,000 people voted a straight Republican ticket in 2004, 55.53 percent to be exact. DeLay was running in only 99 of the county’s 141 precincts and got about 58,000 votes. It’s safe to say that a big chunck of those were straight-ticket voters.

Of course, voting a straight ticket on an ESlate machine (I would assume) is not like voting a straight ticket on a paper ballot. On a paper ballot, you can vote a straight ticket and actually go around on the ballot and mark other races (and this doesn’t disqualify your straight party vote in races you didn’t vote again in, nor does it disqualify a vote for a Republican in a down-ballot race if you voted a straight Democratic ticket or vice versa) and see the races where a blank exists to cast a write-in vote.

If ESlate shows you screen-by-screen all of the different races, would not the first thing you see be an inquiry if you wanted to vote a straight ticket? If so, then wouldn’t you have to do something special to get the write-in races to show up? If that were the case, it’d be pretty difficult because there are normally eligible write-ins in the race for Governor, too. Would it ask you which race you wanted to do a write-in in?

Regardless of what the Republicans say, these are insurmountable challenged. Would you have the GOP county chairs in those counties go back on years of “vote straight ticket Republican” advice only to advocate something different?

And, while the voters in CD22 may be a conservative or Republican majority, most are not die-hard party loyalists to the Nth degree such that they’re going to take the extra time and effort to write-in anyone. I’d suspect that, were a computer engineer to do a time study on how long it would take an average voter to write in a candidate’s name using an e-slate machine, it’d go pretty far toward debunking the myth that a write-in can win in this district.

Face it, the average voter is in a hurry when they vote. Are they going to take an extra one two minutes to write someone in?  I doubt it.

Then, you have the potential for errors. What does symbolize voter intent when it comes to a write-in? If someone just types “David” is that enough? What about “Wallace?” If someone writes in “Shelley Gibbs” instead of “Shelley Sekula-Gibbs” does that county? One could make cases for counting or not counting both examples.

The bottom line is that it is a disaster for the Republicans that Tom DeLay created, but that the GOP isn’t ready to concede, so they’re going to run around being write-ins.

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