Comic relief: Some voters write-in a ballot choice

This article has been corrected to show Donald Rainwater’s candidacy in the 2020 election. Rainwater ran against Gov. Eric Holcomb as a libertarian in the general election.

ORIGINAL STORY

Mickey Mouse. Jerry Garcia. Another Republican. None of the above.

Those were some of the names that Bartholomew County voters wrote in as alternatives to the candidates on the ballot for U.S. Senate, Indiana’s 6th Congressional District and Indiana Secretary of State in last week’s midterm election.

A total of 48 Bartholomew County voters — less than 1% of the overall vote — typed or scribbled in their own preferred choices for U.S. Congress, according to the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office.

Voters could write in candidates for certain races either on paper ballots or the electronic voting machines. When there is an option for a write in vote to be cast, the electronic voting machine will list “write in” underneath the other candidates for that particular office. When the voter pushes the write-in button, a keyboard appears so that they can type in the name of the candidate.

Some voters made attempts at humor or just snubbed their noses at the major party candidates, with many of the more unconventional write-in votes being recorded in the Indiana 6th Congressional District race.

Instead of incumbent Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana, or Democrat Cinde Wirth, in Indiana’s 6th Congressional District, 19 voters wrote in other ideas, including two votes for Mickey Mouse, two votes for “none” or “none of the above,” one vote for a Twitter troll whose name appears to reference a male reproductive organ, one vote for retired St. Peter’s Lutheran Pastor Rev. Mark Teike, one vote for former state representative Milo Smith and one vote for “rainwater.”

It is unclear if the voter who opted for “rainwater” was referring to precipitation or Donald Rainwater, who mounted an unsuccessful challenge as a libertarian against Gov. Eric Holcomb in 2020.

Additionally, at least one Dead Head went truckin’ over to the polls, voting for former Grateful Dead songwriter and guitarist Jerry Garcia for Indiana’s Sixth Congressional District. Garcia, who died in 1995, also received a vote in Bartholomew County for U.S. president in the 2020 election.

Ross Thomas, the Democratic nominee for Indiana House District 59, also received a write-in vote in the Indiana 6th Congressional District race.

A total of 28 voters opted for alternatives to incumbent Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, Democrat Tom McDermott and Libertarian James Sceniak in the U.S. Senate race, though nobody opted for cartoon characters or musicians.

Of those votes, 21 were for Republican Danny Niederberger of Carmel, who was a certified write-in candidate in the Senate race. Local voters spelled Niederberger’s name in six different ways.

The Indiana Election Commission removed Niederberger from the GOP primary ballot in February after he failed to submit a petition with at least 500 signatures in each of Indiana’s congressional districts by the deadline.

Former Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh also received one write-in vote for U.S. Senate in Bartholomew County.

In the Indiana Secretary of State race, one voter wrote in “another Republican” instead of GOP nominee Diego Morales, Democrat Destiny Wells and Libertarian Jeffrey Maurer.

Another voter wrote in Knox County Clerk David Shelton, who ran for the GOP nomination for Indiana Secretary of State but lost to Morales in the Republican convention this past summer.

However, most of the write-in votes in Bartholomew County were not officials tallied because just 21 of the 48 votes were for a certified write-in candidate.

Indiana has specific rules for write-in candidates and how to count write-in votes. Only votes cast for a declared write-in candidate can be counted, according to the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office.