In November 2012, individuals in both Maine and California filed paperwork to make sure that write-ins for Ron Paul for President would be counted. Both states let a group of presidential elector candidates file as declared write-ins, and neither state requires permission from either the presidential candidate or the vice-presidential candidate that these electors are pledged to. Maine tallied 2,035 Ron Paul write-ins, which, of course, technically were in favor of the group of presidential elector candidates who had filed the paperwork.
The Maine filing said the presidential elector candidates were pledged to Mark Willis of Maine for vice-president. Willis, then and now, is a member of the Republican National Committee. Willis, like Paul, had nothing to do with the filing, but now some members of the Republican National Committee wish to expel him because he was listed as vice-presidential candidate. See this story. Thanks to Gene Berkman for the link.
Is there a total for all votes that Ron Paul received, in the general election, write in or otherwise?
F@#$ the f@scist GOP. Ron Paul was the only man who truly stuck to the right Constitutional principles and the GOP maligned him and threw him under the bus in favor of a leftist progressive neo-$ociali$t wimp named Romney.
The only write-ins for Ron Paul in November 2012 that I know of, besides the Maine votes mentioned above, are Alabama 571; California 21,461; New Hampshire 1,374; Rhode Island 617; Vermont 717.
Two-thirds of the states only tally write-ins for presidential candidates who file a declaration of candidacy. The presidential candidate himself or herself must do that, except in California and Maine. If people wanted Ron Paul write-ins to be tallied, they should have found some other person named Ron Paul and had him file as a write-in in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Pennsylvania still hasn’t posted its write-ins, but when it does there will be Ron Paul write-ins. Pennsylvania doesn’t have a write-in declaration of candidacy law and the counties are supposed to tally all write-ins. Some do, some don’t.
So, all I need to do to get rid of someone from the Republican National Committee is to run him as a write-in candidate for vice-president in Maine without his permission? I foresee a lot of people “running” in Maine in the 2016 election, including Reince Priebus and John Boehner.
Do you have to be a Maine resident to submit the write-in declaration in Maine? Can I just choose four electors from Maine [at random, since apparently permission is not required], and a president and vice-president [who could be from anywhere]?
#4, yes, they could be from anywhere.
The EVIL machination is one more reason to abolish the timebomb Electoral College from the 1787 DARK AGE.
P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.
#4 – permission of the ELECTORS is required since they are filing. Permission of the CANDIDATES is not. So four Maine residents could file paperwork for Reince Priebus and John Boehner, then get them both kicked out.
Priebus/Boehner 2016!
State’s should require the presidential candidate to file for office. They would designate their own elector candidates, who would have to grant permission. This would eliminate most of the concern about faithless electors.
If a presidential candidate were the “nominee” of a political party, he would need permission/signature of the state political leader of the party.
Since the candidate was filing for office, he could at minimum swear that he was qualified for the office; if not actually proving so.