Chevy Chase, Maryland, held an election for city council on May 7. Two incumbents were running for re-election and were the only names on the ballot. They were Pat Burda and John Bickerman. A write-in candidate decided to run the week before the election. Although write-in candidates for Maryland federal and state office must file a declaration of write-in candidacy in advance of the election, there is no requirement in Chevy Chase elections that write-in candidates file a declaration of write-in candidacy.
The write-in candidate, Fred Cecere, chose to campaign by only telling people who already supported him that he was running. The incumbent who was defeated did not even realize she had a write-in opponent until late on election day. The vote was: Bickerman 228, Cedere 168, Burda 119.
Back in the 1850’s, before there were government-printed ballots, the American Party often campaigned for its nominees in secret. Voters could make their own ballot, but most voters chose a ballot printed by the party. The American Party would sometimes conduct no publicity for its nominees, but would distribute its ballots to votes whom it knew were supportive. Cecere’s write-in victory has promoted criticism that his secret campaign was unethical. Thanks to Doug McNeil for the news.
Unethical? No – just outsmarting the powers that be.
My question is: How do you get 168 people to keep a secret?
In most places you’d have to file as a write-in. Good way to win if you have plenty of friends and your name is easy to spell. In the good old days you might end up being the town mayor by write-in because nobody wanted the job and you got the most write-in votes from your friends.
The population of Chevy Chase is less than 3000. This would have been much more difficult to pull off in a city of significant size.
Candidates in Chevy Chase are required to file a 24-page financial disclosure form with the town ethics commission three weeks prior to the election.
The town elections commission had refused to certify the results of the election because of this. Labeling the campaign reporting authority an “ethics” commission is a way that filing a late campaign report can be characterized as an “ethics violation” or “unethical”.
More recently, the town ethics commission has ruled that Cecere’s filing of his financial disclosure form on the day of the election was not late. There is a principle that a write-in candidate, particularly one who runs in an informal manner such as Cecere is not actually a candidate until election day. In places where there was (or is) no requirement for a pre-filng by write-in candidates, they are asked after their apparent election if they are willing to serve.
One often mentioned purpose of having the write in option is to draft someone into the office who would otherwise not run for said office. A “drafted” candidate that wins an election would never actually be a candidate for that office and so would assumably not have to file any associate paperwork, unless perhaps retroactively if they decide to take the office they have been elected to.