Who will Keystone Phil vote for?

[Tender Branson]

Goode is not on the ballot anyway in PA.

Johnson is not on there either yet, but could be.

In the end, he'll vote for Romney though.

[angus]

Goode is not on the ballot here. Again, I'll state that I am not commenting on my vote for President of the United States this year.

Write-in Santorum

This, but I can't recall how accessable write-ins are on the PA ballot.

Very accessible.

Tough for third parties here.  Stein had to get something like 20 thousand signatures.  I can't seem to find a sample ballot from the SOS website, but on votespa.org there are no write-in candidates listed.  Same for greenpapers.com.  Most of the states in this region (WV, MD, etc.) have a boatload of candidates on the ballot, including write-in candidates.  In PA I see only Obama, Stein, and Romney, as listed by name, and no legit write-in candidates at all.

[Keystone Phil]

...what?

You can simply write in someone. There just isn't an organized write in effort for anyone.

[angus]

...what?

You can simply write in someone. There just isn't an organized write in effort for anyone.

You certainly can.  I wrote in "Alfred E. Newman" once when I lived in California.  I think I posted about it here.  It was not long after I started posting here and in the state assembly race both candidates were so nauseating that I just couldn't bring myself to vote for either one.  Still, the effect of writing Alfred E. Newman was the same as if I had left it blank, since Alfred E. Newman wasn't a legitimate write-in candidate for that race.  What I mean to say is that I cannot determine that there are any legitimate write-in candidates registered.  Nor, for that matter, are there any candidates on the PA ballot except for the three I mentioned.  Three is pretty slim.  I don't think I've ever had fewer than five choices, not counting write-in candidates.  Now, it could be that none of the websites I checked were updated, but the ones I did check were reputable, and I tend to think that they are up to date.  If so, then there are currently no legitimate write in candidates in Pennsylvania for president.  I do believe there are some for other races. 

[angus]

Okay, Phil, here's what I could learn in a few minutes, although you may already know this as you are a long-time resident of the Keystone State with an interest in politics.  First, Pennsylvania has some pretty serious hurdles, compared to other states, for getting a candidate on the ballot, and as a result has generally fewer candidates on the ballot than most other states.  Candidates must collect tens of thousands of signatures.  A bill was proposed in the state senate to redress this problem, but so far has not picked up any support.  Moreover, the two dominant parties in the state have challenged other candidates' access.   Currently, the Republican party of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is challenging both the Constitution Party and Libertarian Party candidates on the validity of signatures.  

Of course, candidates who don't get on the ballot can stage write-in campaigns, but whether or not write-in votes are counted for them is another issue.  One unusual aspect of Pennsylvania's access laws is that there is no procedure for becoming a write-in candidate, so one does not have to file his candidacy with the state.  Therefore, anyone can become a write-in candidate.  Sounds great, right?  The catch is that your write-in vote isn't likely to be counted.  Eight counties, including the three most populous ones, do not count write-in votes.  Or at least they did not in 2010.  Moreover, most of the remaining counties do not typically report the results with the official election results, although they will apparently send the results to the candidate's campaign.  With a Presidential write-in this is especially cumbersome, because of our federal system.  For President, you are actually voting for presidential electors.  If you write in only the name of the candidate, you are only voting for 1 of 21 electors.  There is also a difference between presidential candidate and presidential elector, and therefore a candidate is not supposed to also be an elector. To further confuse matters, in PA, the political parties are supposed to choose the electors.  So, even if the write-in candidate is a resident of PA, is permitted to be both the candidate an elector, their votes may still be disqualified since the party did not nominate them as an elector.

Here in Lancaster County, the county board of elections recommends that all write-in candidates provide cards to voters with the candidate’s name clearly printed on the card.  It is also recommended that the candidate ask the voter to print the name on the ballot exactly as it appears on the information card.  This county has a population of about 520 thousand people, and as far as I can tell, it complies with PA Election Code 25 P.S. § 3155 requiring that the Board compute and certify votes exactly as the names were written on the ballot.  This is not the case in all 76 of Pennsylvania's counties.  One effect of that law, incidentally, is that John C. Marsh, JC Marsh, and John Marsh, for example, would all be tallied separately.

Let's face it, Phil, Pennsylvania has some of the least user-friendly ballot access laws among the fifty states.    

[Keystone Phil]

The Constitution party withdrew. The challenge is currently over the Libertarians' petitions.

The write in votes may not technically be counted but you still have the ability to write in someone. That's what matters. Obviously, my write in vote isn't going to be decisive anyway.

Sure we aren't friendly when it comes to ballot access. Never argued that we were. It's an old machine state.

[angus]

The Constitution party withdrew.

I stand corrected.

Obviously, my write in vote isn't going to be decisive anyway.

There's still time to reconsider voting for Willard. 

[© tweed]

W. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts

[NVGonzalez]

Eh, he'll vote for Willard. Even with so much reluctance.