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America: Paperwork and Write-in Capital of the World

Reader comment on item: MEF's Surprising Straw Poll on Trump
in response to reader comment: writing in

Submitted by Michael S (United States), May 4, 2016 at 10:47

Anne,

If you want an idea of what American ballots look like, here's mine:

Federal Office:

President (Vote for One)
- Ted Cruz
- John R Kasich
- Donald J Trump
- _______ Write-in

US Senator (Vote fopr One)
(4 names + write-in)

US Representative, my District (Vote for One)
(2 names + write-in)

State Offices:

Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General

Legislative Offices

State Representative, my District

Nonpartisan Offices

Judge of the Supreme Court, Position 4
ditto, Position 5
Judge of the Court of Appeals, Position 2
ditto, Position 3
ditto, Position 7
Judge of the Circuit Court, my district, Position 5
ditto, Position 6
ditto, Position 9
ditto, Position 11
District Attorney, my County

My City

Mayor
Councilor, my Ward

My Water & Electric Board

Board Member, my wards

County Measure 20-239 (supporting 4-H Club and local university extension)

Nominating Ballot: Individual Delegates to the Republican Convention:

Precinct 1231 (3 candidates, plus 14 write-ins)
Precinct 1235 (2 candidates, plus 26 write-ins)
Precinct 1349 (1 candidate, plus 5 write-ins)
Precinct 1895 (both write-ins)
Precinct 1897 (2 candidates)
Precinct 4400 (all write-ins)
... (10 more precincts; dozens of mostly write-ins)

They have all these precincts on the ballot; but we're only supposed to vote for our own precinct, if we can figure out what it is.
Precinct 4900 (all write-ins)

That's all just for the primary election. In November, we will have to deal with an equally daunting ballot, filled with voter initiatives as well as candidates. If you think that's complicated, you should see our tax forms!

Submitting....

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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