Board of Elections expects high number of write-ins
NORWICH – As residents across Chenango County prepare to head to the polls on Tuesday, the Chenango County Board of Elections is working to clear up the procedure of write-in voting.
With many political hopefuls campaigning as a write-in candidate in several municipalities this year, expectations are high to see scores of write-in ballots come voting day on Nov. 5, explained Board of Elections Republican Commissioner Harriet Jenkins and Democratic Commissioner Carol Franklin.
“We won’t know how many write-ins there will be until (election) day,” said Jenkins. “But we are aware of quite a few, especially in Oxford.”
The ballot is easy to read, Franklin and Jenkins explained. The layout of the ballot shows a grid where each line has a political party and the names of each candidate who is running on that party’s ticket. Each column carries the name of the office each candidate is seeking. For names that appear on the ballot, simply fill in the oval next to the candidates name of the respective office they’re soliciting and slip the ballot into the voting scanner.
But write-ins are different. Unlike voting for someone who is already on the ballot, the process of write-in voting requires voters to know the name of the candidate and spelling, in addition to the office that candidate is vying for. Voters must write the name of their candidate on the “write-in” line of the ballot and in the column of the respective office that candidate is seeking.
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