This story says that Virgin Islands election officials haven’t finished counting ballots. One reason the process is taking longer is because there are many write-in votes for State Senator Alicia “Chucky” Hansen, an incumbent who was removed from the ballot by the Virgin Islands Supreme Court on October 24. Hansen supporters printed up stickers and distributed them to voters. Most states no longer permit stickers. A “sticker” is a type of write-in, in which the voter glues a sticker to the ballot instead of literally writing in the name of the candidate.

Hansen was removed from the ballot because ten years ago, she had not filed territorial income tax returns. The Governor had pardoned her earlier this year, and a federal court had ruled she should be on the ballot, and she had been on the ballot in each of the past two previous elections. But that didn’t stop the Virgin Islands Supreme Court from removing her. The Virgin Islands charter says the legislature shall be the “sole” judge of the qualifications of its members, but that didn’t phase the Virgin Islands Supreme Court either.

Based on preliminary election returns, it appears the percentage of the vote in the November 2014 election for independent and minor party candidates, for the office at the top of the ballot, was 4.4%.

By contrast, in 2010 it was 5.4%; in 2006 it was 5.0%; in 2002, it was 5.3%; in 1998, it was 4.9%; in 1994, it was 4.5%; in 1990, it was 4.6%; in 1986 it was 3.6%. But in 1982, it was only 1.8%, and in 1978 and 1974 it was only 2.4%.

The chief reason the 2014 “other” vote for the office at the top of the ballot was lower than in recent past midterm elections is that California and Washington did not let voters cast an “other” vote in November 2014. California and Washington together comprise one-eighth of the nation.

In November 2010, California voters cast 539,645 votes for “other” candidates for Governor, but in November 2014, there were zero such votes, due to California’s having switched to the top-two system starting in 2011. Naturally, with such a drastic change in California, the national percentage for “other” was significantly lowered.

A note on methodology: These calculations exclude scattering write-in votes, and exclude votes for “None of these candidates” in Nevada. These calculations include votes cast on minor party lines for the top office to be “other” votes, even if the particular minor party cross-endorsed a major party nominee.

Top office on the ballot means Governor, for states that elect Governors in midterm years. For those that don’t, it means U.S. Senate. For the handful of states each year in which neither Governor nor U.S. Senate is up, it means the office actually at the top of the ballot.

Recently, Pennsylvania state officials filed briefs in each of the two pending ballot access cases. Here is the brief in Constitution Party of Pennsylvania v Aichele, a case over the Pennsylvania system of putting petitioning groups at risk of paying court costs of up to $110,000 if they submit a petition that lacks enough signatures.

Here is the brief in Green Party of Pennsylvania v Aichele, which challenges many other ballot access laws, including the ban on out-of-state circulators. Both cases are in U.S. District Court in the eastern district. Each case has a separate judge.