The write-ins: Candidates not listed on ballot face long odds

Oct. 24—HARROD — Several people in the Allen East school district put the idea in Cliff Nickles' head: It'd be good to see his name printed on the November ballot for the Allen East school district.

After all, he was an involved parent, with four sons in kindergarten through sixth grade. He cared about maintaining the current curriculum at the school. He graduated from the district, along with his siblings and his parents. He was invested in its success.

"They thought that I would be good at it," Nickles said. "So, I thought, 'You know, why not throw my name in the hat, and why not try it?'"

There was a problem, though. It was past the 4 p.m. Aug. 4 deadline to get his name printed on the ballot. That's when he decided to try to get enough people in the school district to scribble his name on the ballot and run as a write-in candidate.

There are 22 write-in candidates for the Nov. 2 election in Allen, Auglaize and Putnam counties. Fifteen of those will automatically win their races, as long as they remember to vote for themselves. They either don't have opposition, or there are few enough candidates and enough open seats that they'll win a spot.

Those other seven have a tougher challenge.

In Nickles' case, three names — incumbents Brian Hershberger and Kyle Miller along with Sara Jones — are on the ballot for three school board seats. He has to convince people to fill in the bubble next to a line and write his name, along with making their other two choices.

"The top three vote-getters will get in," said Kathy Meyer, the director of the Allen County Board of Elections. "It doesn't mean the write-in won't get in, but it's very hard to get votes because your name is not on the ballot. You have to work harder to make sure people know that you're running."

Making the vote count

There's a common misconception about write-in votes, that you can write anyone's name on the line, Meyer said. She sees her share of "Jesus" and "Goofy" on ballots.

A candidate must file with the board of elections to declare she is open to winning the race. This year, write-in candidacy forms were due by Aug. 23, about three weeks after the deadline to get your name on the ballot.

Meyer recalled working at a board of elections in Champaign County, when someone put signs up to run for a seat on that county's educational service center. The woman never filed with the board, though, and any votes with her name inked on the page were discarded.

"I've had people argue with me, 'Well, it's a democracy; we can write in whoever we want,'" Meyer said. "That doesn't mean the person wants it or would even accept it if they were actually voted in."

When you arrive at your polling place, you can ask to see a list of write-in candidates before you vote. That list can't be posted to avoid giving anyone an advantage, Meyer said.

Voters must fill in the circle next to the blank line for a write-in vote and then write the person's name as best as they can, said Karen Warnecke, director of the Putnam County Board of Elections. Her county has write-in candidates in three contested council races, including Joanne McKanna for Columbus Grove council, Ada Hilton for Leipsic council and Delores Meloney for West Leipsic council.

The board of elections tries to tally votes where people intended them, if they can figure out the intent. Their votes won't be officially tallied until the official canvass a few weeks after election night.

"Let's say for Karen Warnecke, and there's only one Karen running, I've seen the board say, 'Well, they knew Karen but just can't remember her last name.' They would probably give that person the vote because they had the bubble filled in and said Karen," Warnecke said. "Or I've seen the bubble filled in and they just had the last name, and it's clear it's only that one person they could mean."

An uphill climb

Chris Roberts is the write-in candidate in a crowded field for Elida school board. Voters will choose three people. Incumbents Barry Barnt, Jason Bowers and Jeffrey Christoff are listed on the ballot. Alisa Agozzino's name is also on the ballot, but Roberts is not. He must convince enough people to fill in the bubble and write his name on the blank line.

Roberts is concerned about mask and vaccination mandates coming into Elida schools.

"I was talking to some friends and talking about this issue, and I thought, 'I want to step up and do something.' Somebody said, 'You should run for the board," Roberts said.

He was also a day late to be included on the ballot, so he settled for running as a write-in candidate. He created a Facebook group, "#WriteinRoberts for Elida School Board" to share his message. He has a few signs up too.

Nickles also turned to Facebook to try to share his message. He has a post on his Facebook page, walking through his interest in the position and reminding people how to vote for him. He admitted his last name is already common and well-known within the district, which helps.

"The response has been pretty good. With early voting, they told me they wrote me in," Nickles said Friday. "Actually, I was just at the board of elections, seeing the ballots for the first time. I wrote my name in, and that sure is a different feeling."

Write-in winners

While it's rare, it's not impossible to win a contested race as a write-in candidate.

Lima 6th Ward Councilman Derry Glenn won re-election back in 2003 as a write-in candidate.

In 2005, Frank Lamar was re-elected as a Perry Township trustee as a write-in candidate in a six-way race. This year, incumbent trustee Norman Capps is a write-in candidate, but there are only two people running for two open positions there, essentially guaranteeing him re-election.

Also in 2005, Continental elected a write-in candidate, Ron Bradford, to its school board, beating out an incumbent who had her name on the ballot.

Meyer has a warm memory of one write-in campaign, a Swanton Township race in Lucas County years ago. It was before she was even a poll worker, much less an elections head. Her father-in-law's petition for re-election was rejected, so he filed as a write-in candidate instead. The rules have since changed, making someone with a rejected candidacy ineligible to run as a write-in, Meyer said.

"He had pencils made up with his name on them, and the family and campaign went out and stood at every voting location and handed out pencils as people went in to vote," Meyer said. "He made it back in. ... So it does happen."

Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter @Lima_Trinko.