Updates/Edits/Corrections: 1998-10-07-01:29

What is this? I went to the nice election statistics web site of the Clerk of the House of Representatives and got the 1996 Presidential Election results. But I found that the summary table was misleading in that it presented many votes under an "Independent" column instead of listing them in the same column as the candidate / party for whom they had actually been cast, so I carefully separated out those votes and placed them in the proper columns. This left no reason to have a column for "Independent" so I removed that column. (The Clerk's table also had defective HTML, which I have fixed here.) I have combined three columns which appeared in the Clerk's table (for "Grassroots Party", "American Party", and "Socialist Equality Party") with the "Other Parties" column; these were on two, two, and three State ballots respectively. I added a column for independent candidate Charles Collins, because he was on five State ballots and in addition got write-in votes in many other States. Finally, I added some rows and columns to show the sorts of cumulative data that Ballot Access News readers are so fond of.

I then discovered that the Clerk's data was simply wrong in a few places, and that enormously better data (but in a much less convenient format) was available at the FEC's web site, plus at some of the States' own sites (generally, a Secretary of State website), so I embarked on the long and tedious process of updating the Clerk's table with this data. The major benefit of this work was that I was able to properly attribute many of the write-in votes, whereas the Clerk generally didn't bother: in fact, with only the Clerk's data, it was generally impossible to tell if the various States had even reported the names of write-in candidates, or what votes each received. In point of fact, many States did report these votes separately, so the Clerk's presentation of them as one unexplained number was misleading.

If you spot any errors in this table, please tell me about them. Please also let me know if you have a copy of an official ballot from your State, especially if it indicates a different set of candidates than I have shown here. I obtained faxed and mailed copies of most State ballots in October and November of 1996, and official lists in the other cases, and everything matches the FEC site's data on ballot access, so I'm virtually certain that what you see here is absolutely definitive.

Finally, this table is very large -- if you want to print it out, I suggest you start by selecting "Landscape" mode and a reduction (scaling) factor of about 70% or less.

----- Bob Bickford, WebMaster, Ballot Access News

The ten parties / candidates not given their own column in the table above are as follows:

Candidate	Party	Ballots	Votes	notes
Earl Dodge	Prohibition Party	4 (AR, CO, TN, UT)	1,298	(includes 5 write-in votes) (see notes (6), (13), (20), (28), (61), and (64) below)
Jerome White	Socialist Equality Party	3 (MI, MN, NJ)	2,438	(see notes (29), (32), and (41) below)
Dennis Peron	Grassroots Party	2 (MN, VT)	5,378	(see notes (32) and (68) below)
Diane Templin	American Party	2 (CO, UT)	1,847	(see notes (13) and (64) below)
Marcia Feinland	Peace and Freedom Party	1 (CA)	25,332	(see note (8) below)
Peter Crane	Independent Party of Utah	1 (UT)	1,101	(see note (64) below)
Ralph Forbes	America First Party	1 (AR)	932	(see note (6) below)
John Birrenbach	Independent Grassroots Party	1 (MN)	787	(see note (32) below)
Isabell Masters	Looking Back Party	1 (AR)	752	(includes 3 write-in votes) (see notes (6), (9), and (27) below)
Steve Michael	AIDS Cure Party	1 (TN)	408	(see note (61) below)

The number of write-in votes not attributed to any candidate in the tables above (only attributed, if at all, in the footnotes) is 153,152. This includes the "123,000" from New York (see note (46) below).

Footnotes:

⁽¹⁾  This column does not include write-in votes for candidates who have a column in this table; those votes are reported in the respective columns. Included here are those votes reported as "Scattered" as well as miscellaneous write-in votes.
⁽²⁾  All three of these candidates were on the printed ballot in Alabama, under "Independent Candidates".
⁽³⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in Alabama, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽⁴⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in Alaska, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽⁵⁾  Write-in votes: 11 for Caroline Killeen, and 5 for Robert B. Winn. Neither candidate was on the printed ballot in Arizona.
⁽⁶⁾  Includes 932 for "America First Party" (Ralph Forbes); 749 for "Looking Back Party" (Isabell Masters); and 483 for "Prohibition Party" (Earl Dodge). All three were on the printed ballot in Arkansas, with the Party names.
⁽⁷⁾  Candidate Phillips appeared on the "American Independent Party" ticket on the printed ballot in California.
⁽⁸⁾  "Peace and Freedom Party" (Marcia Feinland). Appeared on the printed ballot in California, with the Party name.
⁽⁹⁾  Write-in votes: 13 for Joel Gary Neuberg, 12 for Willie Felix Carter, and 2 for Isabell Masters. None of these were on the printed ballot in California.
⁽¹⁰⁾  Candidate Nader appeared on the "Green Party of Colorado" ticket on the printed ballot.
⁽¹¹⁾  Candidate Phillips appeared on the "American Constitution Party" ticket on the printed ballot in Colorado.
⁽¹²⁾  Candidate Harris appeared on the "Socialist Workers Campaign" ticket on the printed ballot in Colorado.
⁽¹³⁾  Includes 557 for "American Party" (Diane Templin) and 375 for "Colorado Prohibition Party" (Earl Dodge). Both were on the printed ballot in Colorado, with the Party names.
⁽¹⁴⁾  Candidate Phillips appeared on the "Concerned Citizens Party" ticket on the printed ballot in Connecticut.
⁽¹⁵⁾  Candidate Johan Rust, not on the printed ballot in Connecticut.
⁽¹⁶⁾  Candidate Perot appeared as "Unaffiliated Candidate" on the printed ballot in Delaware. This figure includes one write-in vote cast for "Perot".
⁽¹⁷⁾  This figure includes 1 write-in vote cast for "Hagelin/Thompkins". The candidate was on the printed ballot in Delaware, with the Party name.
⁽¹⁸⁾  Write-in votes: 4 for Colin Powell, and 1 each for Barbara Bush, George Bush, J. Thos. Butler, Tom Butler, Pete DuPont, Samuel Hoff, Alan Keyes, Pat Paulson, Ray Rhodes, Lof Bridge Stewart, and Skip Venables. None of these were on the printed ballot in Delaware.
⁽¹⁹⁾  Write-in vote for Jack Fellure, not on the printed ballot in Idaho.
⁽²⁰⁾  Write-in votes: 3 for William P. Marshall, 3 for Johan K. Rust, 2 for Jennifer "Jenny" Kay Kosharsky, and 1 each for Willie Felix Carter, Earl F. Dodge, and Randy Sutherland. None of these were on the printed ballot in Illinois.
⁽²¹⁾  Write-in votes: 18 for David H. Birchler, not on the printed ballot in Indiana.
⁽²²⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in Iowa, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽²³⁾  Both of these candidates were on the printed ballot in Kansas, listed as "Independent". The Clerk had one figure incorrect, probably due to a typographical error.
⁽²⁴⁾  Write-in votes: 8 for Jason Scott Owens, not on the printed ballot in Kentucky.
⁽²⁵⁾  Candidate Nader was listed as "Liberty, Ecology, Community" on the printed ballot in Louisiana.
⁽²⁶⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in Maine, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽²⁷⁾  Write-in votes: 11 for Willie Felix Carter, 6 for Eldridge Kennedy Hodge, 3 for Harriet H. Gleason, and 1 for Isabell Masters. None of these were on the printed ballot in Maryland.
⁽²⁸⁾  Includes 4 write-in votes for Earl F. Dodge, and 6,182 reported only as "Scattered" in Massachusetts.
⁽²⁹⁾  Socialist Equality Party (Jerome White). Appeared on the printed ballot in Michigan.
⁽³⁰⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in Michigan, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽³¹⁾  Candidate Clinton was listed as "Democratic-Farmer-Labor" on the printed ballot in Minnesota.
⁽³²⁾  Includes 4,898 for "Grassroots Party" (Dennis Peron), 787 for "Independent Grassroots" (John Birrenbach), and 347 for "Socialist Equality" (Jerome White). The Clerk listed Birrenbach as "Independent Grass Roots Party" (4 words), but the printed ballot received by B.A.N. in 1996 from Minnesota shows the name as given above (2 words). All three of these candidates were on the printed ballot in Minnesota, with the Party names.
⁽³³⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in Minnesota, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽³⁴⁾  Candidate Perot was listed as "Independent" on the printed ballot in Mississippi.
⁽³⁵⁾  Write-in votes: 5 for Timothy J. Locke, not on the printed ballot in Montana.
⁽³⁶⁾  Candidate Phillips appeared on the printed ballot in Nebraska with the words "By Petition" where the Party name would normally appear, and was labelled by the FEC as "Independent".
⁽³⁷⁾  Candidate Phillips appeared on the "Independent American Party" ticket on the printed ballot in Nevada.
⁽³⁸⁾  This figure is the votes for "NONE OF THESE CANDIDATES", an option on the printed ballots in Nevada.
⁽³⁹⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in New Hampshire, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽⁴⁰⁾  All eight of these candidates were on the printed ballot in New Jersey, with the Party names, and were reported separately by the State (although inexplicably without the Party names), but the Clerk combined their votes into one total and listed it under the "Independent" column. The FEC listed them separately.
⁽⁴¹⁾  Socialist Equality Party (Jerome White). Appeared on the printed ballot in New Jersey.
⁽⁴²⁾  Includes 3,649,630 votes for candidate Clinton appearing on "Democratic" ticket, and 106,547 votes on "Liberal" ticket, on the printed ballot in New York.
⁽⁴³⁾  Includes 1,738,707 votes for candidate Dole appearing on "Republican" ticket, 183,392 votes on "Conservative" ticket, and 11,393 votes on "Freedom" ticket, on the printed ballot in New York.
⁽⁴⁴⁾  Candidate Perot appeared on the "Independence" ticket on the printed ballot in New York.
⁽⁴⁵⁾  Candidate Phillips appeared on the "Right To Life" ticket on the printed ballot in New York.
⁽⁴⁶⁾  The FEC's documentation says only "123,000 Write-in and blank votes were compiled as one total"; the Clerk's documentation gave the number without comment, and I've not yet found any further explanation for this number.
⁽⁴⁷⁾  The printed ballot in New York actually listed 12 different parties for the Presidential vote, but 3 of these ran the same candidate as another party (see notes (42) and (43) above), so the total number of different names on the ballot was 9.
⁽⁴⁸⁾  Candidate Phillips appeared as "Independent Nomination" on the printed ballot in North Dakota.
⁽⁴⁹⁾  These three candidates were on the printed ballot in Ohio, but without a Party name.
⁽⁵⁰⁾  Write-in votes: 11 for Dan Burkhardt, and 4 for Mark Snyder. Neither was on the printed ballot in Ohio.
⁽⁵¹⁾  Candidate Nader appeared on the "Pacific Party" ticket on the printed ballot in Oregon.
⁽⁵²⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in Oregon, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽⁵³⁾  Candidate Phillips appeared on the "Constitutional Party" ticket on the printed ballot in Pennsylvania.
⁽⁵⁴⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in Pennsylvania, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽⁵⁵⁾  The sample ballot received in 1996 by B.A.N. from Rhode Island showed Party columns only for the Democratic, Cool Moose (no candidates), and Republican Parties. All other candidates for President were listed in columns labelled "Independent", but all of their names had the correct Party name in small print on the ballot next to each candidate's name.
⁽⁵⁶⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in Rhode Island, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽⁵⁷⁾  Includes 37,079 votes for candidate Perot appearing on "Patriot Party" ticket, and 27,307 votes for candidate appearing on "Reform Party" ticket, both on the printed ballot in South Carolina.
⁽⁵⁸⁾  The Natural Law Party won a lawsuit in early October 1996 placing its candidate (John Hagelin) on the ballot in South Carolina, and in fact the sample printed ballot received by B.A.N. in 1996 from the Secretary of State did show both the Party name and the candidate's name, and the State did report the votes for this candidate in its official results. However, apparently the Clerk did not feel obliged to respect this, and reported no votes here! This figure was obtained from the FEC.
⁽⁵⁹⁾  All three of these candidates were on the printed ballot in South Dakota, under "Independent Candidates".
⁽⁶⁰⁾  All six of these candidates were on the printed ballot in Tennessee, under "Independent Candidates" (note: in Tennessee, all candidates for President, other than the Democratic and Republican candidates, were shown on the printed ballot as "Independent").
⁽⁶¹⁾  Includes 324 for candidate Earl Dodge ("Prohibition Party"), and 408 for candidate Steve Michael ("AIDS Cure Party"). Both were on the printed ballot in Tennessee, as "Independent" (note: in Tennessee, all candidates for President, other than Democratic and Republican candidates, were listed as "Independent"). The Clerk did not choose to identify these candidates or to separately report their votes.
⁽⁶²⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in Tennessee, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽⁶³⁾  Candidate Perot was listed as "Independent" on the printed ballot in Texas.
⁽⁶⁴⁾  Includes 1,290 for "Independent American" (Diane Templin), 1,101 for "Independent Party of Utah" (Peter Crane), and 111 for "Prohibition" (Earl Dodge). All three were on the printed ballot in Utah, with the party names, although only the word "Independent" appeared next to Crane's name.
⁽⁶⁵⁾  Write-in votes: 29 for Madison Alden Parker II, 25 for Johan Kornelis Rust, 19 for Louie Gene Youngkeit, 10 for Roger Thomas Davis, 4 for Hans Gregerson, 4 for Clarene J. Trambley, 3 for Debra L. Axtell Schultz, 3 for Lawrence Rey Topham, and 1 for Jack Mabardy. None were on the printed ballot in Utah.
⁽⁶⁶⁾  Candidate Nader appeared on the "Green Coalition" ticket on the printed ballot in Vermont.
⁽⁶⁷⁾  Candidate Hollis appeared on the "Liberty Union" ticket on the printed ballot in Vermont.
⁽⁶⁸⁾  "Grassroots Party" (Dennis Peron). Appeared on the printed ballot in Vermont, with the Party name.
⁽⁶⁹⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in Vermont, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽⁷⁰⁾  Both of these candidate were on the printed ballot in Washington, as "Independent Candidates".
⁽⁷¹⁾  Inexplicably listed as "Independent" by both the Clerk and the FEC, all five of these candidates were on the printed ballot in Wisconsin, with the Party names as noted at the tops of the respective columns, except that candidate Ralph Nader was listed as "Wisconsin Greens", and candidate Mary Cal Hollis was listed as "Socialist Party of Wisconsin".
⁽⁷²⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in Wisconsin, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽⁷³⁾  Candidate Perot was listed as "Independent" on the printed ballot in Wyoming.
⁽⁷⁴⁾  Reported only as "Scattered" in the District of Columbia, these were probably various write-in votes.
⁽⁷⁵⁾  Total number of candidates who appeared on at least one official, printed State ballot (in other words, not only as write-in).

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