Rhode Island permits write-in votes in primary and general elections, and does not have a law requiring write-in candidates to file a declaration of write-in candidacy in order to have their votes counted. Instead the Rhode Island Board of Elections counts all write-ins for all office, and publishes the results in the “Count Book” for that particular election. The only limit is that the book only includes write-ins for individuals who got at least 5 write-ins for any particular office.
Here is a link to “Count Books”. Click on the 2016 link to see the complete write-ins, starting on page 61. The contrast with Alabama’s treatment of write-ins in the special U.S. Senate election earlier this month could not be more stark.
The Rhode Island 2016 Count Book was just released a few weeks ago.
Of what utility is the listing, and how accurate is it?
It seems to me that if you are going to permit write-ins, a system like in Texas is superior, where write-in candidates are listed in each polling booth, and all candidates are subject to campaign finance reporting.
What percent of declared write-ins and esp UN-declared write-ins have been elected in world history — at least since writing was invented ???