Pennsylvania, Washington are Only States with no Write-in Tally, So Far

Generally speaking, all states have finished tallying the votes from the November 2, 2010 election.  This year, every state that had a U.S. Senate election, or a gubernatorial election, has reported write-in results for at least some offices (except for the five states that ban all write-in votes), except for Pennsylvania and Washington.  Some states report the number of write-in votes for declared write-in candidates.  Some states report the total number of miscellaneous write-ins.  Some states do both.

Pennsylvania’s Elections Department said several weeks ago that it is working on a write-in tally for the November 2010 election, but that eight counties still had not reported their write-ins.  The issue has legal significance, because a federal lawsuit is pending in Pennsylvania for failure to tally the write-in votes for Cynthia McKinney (Green Party presidential nominee in 2008) and for the failure of certain counties to count any write-in votes in 2008.  The lawsuit argues that the 2008 failures are typical and ongoing.

Pennsylvania has no law requiring a write-in candidate to file a declaration of candidacy.  Under Pennsylvania law, all write-ins must be counted and reported.


Comments

Pennsylvania, Washington are Only States with no Write-in Tally, So Far — 1 Comment

  1. Write-ins — 14th Amdt, Sec. 2 — right to vote — denied, abridged

    Where is that Model Election Law ??? — with or without a declaration of candidacy for write-in candidates.

    How many court cases thus far regarding 2011-2012 ballot access — even before new gerrymander districts have been created in very dark caves by gerrymander monsters ???

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