Posted by LachlanMinnesota in another thread:
Alaska Statutes - Section 15.15.360.: Rules for counting ballots.
(a) The election board shall count ballots according to the following rules:
(1) A voter may mark a ballot only by filling in, making “X” marks, diagonal, horizontal, or vertical marks, solid marks, stars, circles, asterisks, checks, or plus signs that are clearly spaced in the oval opposite the name of the candidate, proposition, or question that the voter desires to designate.
(2) A failure to properly mark a ballot as to one or more candidates does not itself invalidate the entire ballot.
(3) If a voter marks fewer names than there are persons to be elected to the office, a vote shall be counted for each candidate properly marked.
(4) If a voter marks more names than there are persons to be elected to the office, the votes for candidates for that office may not be counted.
(5) The mark specified in (1) of this subsection shall be counted only if it is substantially inside the oval provided, or touching the oval so as to indicate clearly that the voter intended the particular oval to be designated.
(6) Improper marks on the ballot may not be counted and do not invalidate marks for candidates properly made.
(7) An erasure or correction invalidates only that section of the ballot in which it appears.
(8) A vote marked for the candidate for President or Vice-President of the United States is considered and counted as a vote for the election of the presidential electors.
(9) Write-in votes are not invalidated by writing in the name of a candidate whose name is printed on the ballot unless the election board determines, on the basis of other evidence, that the ballot was so marked for the purpose of identifying the ballot.
(10) In order to vote for a write-in candidate, the voter must write in the candidate’s name in the space provided and fill in the oval opposite the candidate’s name in accordance with (1) of this subsection.
(11) A vote for a write-in candidate, other than a write-in vote for governor and lieutenant governor, shall be counted if the oval is filled in for that candidate and if the name, as it appears on the write-in declaration of candidacy, of the candidate or the last name of the candidate is written in the space provided.
(12) If the write-in vote is for governor and lieutenant governor, the vote shall be counted if the oval is filled in and the names, as they appear on the write-in declaration of candidacy, of the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor or the last names of the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, or the name, as it appears on the write-in declaration of candidacy, of the candidate for governor or the last name of the candidate for governor is written in the space provided.
(b) The rules set out in this section are mandatory and there are no exceptions to them. A ballot may not be counted unless marked in compliance with these rules.
Pay particular attention to (a)(12) and (b).
Write in circle must be filled and write in name must match the declaration of candidacy...no exceptions.
That is Alaska Law.
(a)(11) is the correct one for other than Governor or Lieutenant Governor, but still must match. Last name only is the only exception spelled out.
Thanks. At one point wasn’t somebody with authority saying they wouldn’t accept votes that had Joe Miller written in? This law is clear that the vote can’t be discounted in such a case unless there is other evidence that the name was written in order to identify the ballot. Are they going to follow that law?
Seems to me they have to follow the law.
Miller isn’t a write-in candidate; he’s a party candidate whose name is printed on the ballot. So the rules talking about votes for a write-in candidate wouldn’t apply to him. Those rules would only apply to votes for people who are on a list of write-in candidates.
The rules that would apply to a party candidate are the ones that say the vote counts if the mark is made correctly inside the oval (5) and that a write-in vote is not invalidated just because it is for somebody whose name is printed on the ballot.
I suppose they could argue about it, but from the wording of the statute (which is in the post I’m replying to), it seems to me that if a person isn’t already listed on the ballot (because a party has declared that person as their candidate) then they have to declare their write-in candidacy. They are a “write-in candidate”. A person who was declared a candidate by a party can still be voted for as a write-in even if they are a party candidate and not a “write-in candidate”.
That’s how I understand it anyway. Does that make sense?