Write-in candidate


A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be possible to win an election by winning a sufficient number of such write-in votes, which count equally as if the person were formally listed on the ballot.
Writing in a name that is not already on the election ballot is a permitted practice in the United States. Some other jurisdictions have also allowed this practice. In the United States, there are variations in laws governing write-in candidates, depending on the office and whether the election is a primary election or the general election; general practice is an empty field close by annotated to explain its purpose on the ballot if it applies. In five U.S. states there are no elections to which it can apply, under their present laws. Election laws are enacted by each state and in the District of Columbia, to apply to their voters.

How to write in the name

Some U.S. states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker, with the write-in candidate's name, to the ballot in lieu of actually writing in the candidate's name.
Write-in candidacies are sometimes a result of a candidate being legally or procedurally ineligible to run under their own name or party; write-in candidacies may be permitted where term limits bar an incumbent candidate from being officially nominated for, or being listed on the ballot for, re-election. They are also typically used when a candidate, often an incumbent, has lost a primary election but still wishes to contest the general election.
In some cases, write-in campaigns have been organized to support a candidate who is not personally involved in running; this may be a form of draft campaign.

Write-in candidates may have to register as candidates

Write-in candidates have won elections on rare occasions. Also, write-in votes are sometimes cast for ineligible people or fictional characters, often as a form of protest vote.
Some jurisdictions require write-in candidates be registered as official candidates before the election. This is standard in elections with a large pool of potential candidates, as there may be multiple candidates with the same name that could be written in.

The spoiler effect

In some cases, the number of write-in votes cast in an election is greater than the entire margin of victory, suggesting that the write-ins may have been sufficient to tip the balance and change the outcome of the election by creating a spoiler effect.

Primary elections in the United States

Many U.S. states and municipalities allow for write-in votes in a partisan primary election where no candidate is listed on the ballot to have the same functional effect as nominating petitions: for example, if there are no Reform Party members on the ballot for state general assembly and a candidate receives more than 200 write-in votes when the primary election is held, the candidate will be placed on the ballot on that ballot line for the general election. In most places, this provision is in place for non-partisan elections as well.

Write-in option in a referendum

A write-in option may occasionally be available in a multiple-choice referendum; for example in the January 1982 Guamanian status referendum.

Contrast from a blank ballot election system

The term "write-in candidate" is used in elections in which names of candidates or parties are preprinted on a paper ballot or displayed on an electronic voting machine. The term is not generally used in elections in which all ballots are blank and thus all voters must write in the names of their preferred candidates. Blank ballot election systems reduce the cost of printing the ballots, but increase the complexity of casting and counting votes.
Such systems are used in Japan, and were used in the past in the French Second Republic and in elections in the Philippines from World War II until the 2010 general election. Unusually, this system was also used in Canada for the 2025 Battle River—Crowfoot federal by-election, due to over 200 candidates having been nominated; the election had been targeted by the Longest Ballot Committee, whose previous efforts had resulted in unwieldy preprinted ballots with as many as 91 candidates.
Some systems use a semi-blank ballot, such as Finland, where the voter must fill in a candidate's given number or letter from a separate ballot, but where there is a clear-cut arrangement with a circle or box with a description of how to vote for a given candidate. Blank-ballot systems typically require candidates to be nominated in advance.

United States

The requirements to appear on the general election ballot as an independent candidate or to have write-in votes counted vary by state and by political office sought.
As of 2024, 40 states and the District of Columbia allow write-in votes on their ballots, including for president; Alaska, New Mexico and South Carolina allow write-in candidates for some offices but not for president; Mississippi allows write-in votes only to substitute a candidate listed on the ballot who was removed, withdrew or died; Arkansas, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, Oklahoma and South Dakota do not allow any write-in votes. Most of the jurisdictions allowing write-in votes require that the write-in candidates register by a certain date for their votes to be counted. Typically this registration consists only of a declaration of candidacy, but some states also require signatures of a certain number of voters, additional paperwork or fees. The deadline to register as a write-in candidate is usually later than to petition to be listed on the ballot.

2024 presidential general election

;Notes

Presidential primary

  • In the 1960 presidential elections, both major party candidates won a few primaries as write-in candidates, in contests that did not feature any candidates named on the ballot. John F. Kennedy won the Democratic primaries as a write-in candidate in Illinois, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. Richard Nixon won the Republican primaries as a write-in candidate in Massachusetts and in Nebraska. Kennedy also received write-in votes in the Republican primaries in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Oregon.
  • In the 1964 Republican presidential primary, a write-in campaign organized by supporters of former U.S. Senator and vice presidential nominee Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. won the Republican primaries for president in New Hampshire defeating the frontrunner candidate Barry Goldwater. Lodge also won the Republican presidential primaries in New Jersey as a write-in candidate, as the primaries featured no candidates, with all votes cast requiring candidates' names be written-in.
  • In the 1968 Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire, incumbent President Lyndon Johnson did not file, but agreed to have his supporters mount a write-in campaign on his behalf. His write-in campaign received 48% of the votes. Senator Eugene McCarthy, who campaigned actively against Johnson's Vietnam War policies, was on the ballot and received 42% of the vote. McCarthy's strong showing led Johnson to withdraw from the race two and a half weeks later.
  • In the 1992 Democratic presidential primary and the 1992 Republican presidential primary, consumer advocate Ralph Nader ran a write-in campaign during the New Hampshire primary for the presidential nomination of both parties. Declaring himself the "none of the above candidate" and using his Concord Principles as his platform, Nader received 3,054 votes from Democrats and 3,258 votes from Republicans.
  • In the 2024 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, incumbent president Joe Biden received 79,100 write-in votes, more than any listed candidate. Biden did not run in the primary because of a dispute between the Democratic National Committee and the New Hampshire Democratic Party regarding the scheduling of that year's Democratic presidential primary. Biden did not support the write-in effort mounted by his supporters.

    U.S. Senate

  • Republican William Knowland was elected in 1946 to the U.S. Senate from California, for a two-month term. The special election for the two-month term featured a November ballot with no names printed on it, and all candidates in that special election were write-in candidates.
  • Democrat Strom Thurmond was elected in 1954 to the United States Senate in South Carolina as a write-in candidate, after state Democratic leaders had blocked him from receiving the party's nomination.
  • In 2010 incumbent Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski lost the Republican primary to Joe Miller. Following her defeat she ran in the general election as a write-in candidate. Murkowski had filed, and won, a lawsuit requiring election officials to have the list of names of write-in candidates distributed at the polls, and subsequently won the election with a wide enough margin over both Miller, and Democratic Party candidate Scott T. McAdams, to make moot the write-in ballots that had been challenged by Miller.
  • In 2020, Chris Janicek won the Democratic Senatorial nomination, but during the campaign he sent out sexually inappropriate text messages to staffers causing the Nebraska Democratic Party to withdraw its support from him. The Nebraska Democratic Party attempted to replace Janicek with Alisha Shelton, but Janicek refused to drop out preventing the replacement. Preston Love Jr. later launched a write-in senatorial campaign and received the support of the Nebraska Democratic Party, making him the first black person to receive the support of a major party for a United States Senate seat in Nebraska. Both Janicek and Love lost to Republican incumbent Ben Sasse.

    U.S. House of Representatives

  • In 1918, Peter F. Tague was elected to the U.S. House as a write-in independent Democrat, defeating the Democratic nominee, John F. Fitzgerald.
  • In 1930 Republican Charles F. Curry Jr. was elected to the House as a write-in from Sacramento, California. His father, Congressman Charles F. Curry Sr., would have been listed on the ballot unopposed but, due to his untimely death, his name was removed and no candidate's name was listed on the ballot.
  • In 1958, Democrat Dale Alford was elected as a write-in candidate to the United States House of Representatives in Arkansas. As a member of the Little Rock school board, Alford launched his write-in campaign a week before the election because the incumbent, Brooks Hays, was involved in the incident in which president Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce racial integration at Little Rock Central High School. Racial integration was unpopular at the time, and Alford won by approximately 1,200 votes, a 2% margin.
  • In 1964 Democrat Gale Schisler was nominated for Congress in Illinois as a write-in candidate when no Democrat filed to run in the primary election. He defeated incumbent Robert McLoskey in the November general election.
  • In November 1980, Republican Joe Skeen was elected to Congress in New Mexico as a write-in candidate, because of a spoiler candidate who also happened to be a write-in. No Republican had filed to run against the incumbent Democrat, Harold L. Runnels, before the close of filing. Runnels died on August 5, 1980, and the Democrats requested a special primary to pick a replacement candidate. The New Mexico Secretary of State allowed the Democrats to have a special primary, but did not allow the Republicans to have a special primary, because they had already gone with no candidate. So Skeen ran as a write-in candidate. After Runnels' widow lost the Democratic special primary, she launched her own write-in candidacy, which split the Democratic vote, taking enough votes from the Democratic nominee to give the election to the Republican, Skeen, who won with a 38% plurality.
  • Ron Packard of California finished in second place in the 18-candidate Republican primary to replace the retiring Clair Burgener. Packard lost the primary by 92 votes in 1982, and then mounted a write-in campaign as an independent. He won the election with a 37% plurality against both a Republican and a Democratic candidate. Following the elections, he re-aligned himself as a Republican.
  • Democrat Charlie Wilson was the endorsed candidate of the Democratic Party for Ohio's 6th congressional district in Ohio to replace Ted Strickland in 2006. Strickland was running for Governor, and had to give up his congressional seat. Wilson, though, did not qualify for the ballot because only 46 of the 96 signatures on his candidacy petition were deemed valid, while 50 valid signatures were required for ballot placement. The Democratic Party continued to support Wilson, and an expensive primary campaign ensued – over $1 million was spent by both parties. Wilson overwhelmingly won the Democratic primary as a write-in candidate on May 2, 2006, against two Democratic candidates whose names were on the ballot, with Wilson collecting 44,367 votes, 67% of the Democratic votes cast. Wilson faced Republican Chuck Blasdel in the general election on November 7, 2006, and won, receiving 61% of the votes.
  • Democrat Dave Loebsack won the 2006 Democratic primary in Iowa's 2nd congressional district as a write-in candidate with 501 votes, since no other candidate ran against him in the primary. He went on to win in the general election against 15-term incumbent Jim Leach by a 51% to 49% margin.
  • Jerry McNerney ran as a write-in candidate in the March 2004 Democratic Primary in California's 11th congressional district. He received 1,667 votes, and, having no opposition, won the primary. Although he lost the November 2004 general election to Republican Richard Pombo, McNerney ran again in 2006 and won the Democratic Primary in June, and then the rematch against Pombo in November.
  • Shelley Sekula-Gibbs failed as a write-in candidate in the November 7, 2006, election to represent the 22nd Texas congressional district in the 110th Congress. The seat had been vacant since June 9, 2006, due to the resignation of the then representative Tom DeLay. Therefore, on the same ballot, there were two races: one for the 110th Congress, as well as a race for the unexpired portion of the term during the 109th Congress. Sekula-Gibbs won the race for the unexpired portion of the term during the 109th Congress as a candidate listed on the ballot. She could not be listed on the ballot for the full term because Texas law did not allow a replacement candidate to be listed on the ballot after the winner of the primary has resigned.
  • Peter Welch, a Democrat representing Vermont's sole congressional district, became both the Democratic and Republican nominee for the House when he ran for re-election in 2008 and 2016. Because the Republicans did not field any candidate on the primary ballot in those elections, Welch won enough write-in votes to win the Republican nomination.