Voters cast wide range of write-in votes for president

Manatee and Sarasota counties had substantially fewer write-in votes for president and vice president in this November’s election compared to 2016.

The names submitted, though, include the serious, bizarre and silly.

In Sarasota County, there were 639 write-in votes for president and vice president, which was down from 2,295 write-in votes in the November 2016 general election.

In Manatee County, there were 531 write-in votes for president and vice president compared to 1,803 write-in votes in November 2016.

Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections public information coordinator Barbara Bain provided a 20-page list of write-in submissions. Manatee County Elections Chief Deputy Sharon Stief also provided two documents of Manatee County’s write-in submissions. Almost none of them counted since write-in candidates must be certified prior to the election to be eligible for Florida’s 29 electoral college votes.

The Department of State’s Office provided Florida's list of 13 certified presidential and vice-presidential candidate combinations for the Nov. 3 election, which included the Democratic ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as well as the Republican ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence.

Florida’s list of certified candidate combinations also included (presidential and vice-presidential candidates):

• Don Blakenship and William Mohr
• Brian Carroll and Amar Patel
• Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente and Darcy Richardson
• Howie Hawkins and Alyssa Howard
• Jo Jorgensen and Jeremy “Spike” Cohen
• Gloria La Riva and Sunil Freeman
• Michael Laboch and Raechelle Pope
• Jade Simmons and Melissa Nixon
• Angela Marie Walls-Windhauser and Charles Frederick Tolbert
• Kasey Wells and Rachel Wells

Many Floridians wrote in rapper Kanye West, who appeared on the ballot in 12 states. West collected more than 60,000 votes throughout the U.S. that actually counted.

There were many names that were too lewd to publish in the Observer.

In both Manatee and Sarasota counties, Florida leaders who already hold political office received write-in votes, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Marco Rubio, Rep. Charlie Crist, and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd also received a handful of write-in submissions from Manatee County voters.

Speaking of Florida, Mickey Mouse and his Disney pal Donald Duck also made the list.

Other fictional characters included Kermit the frog, Superman, Captain America, Master Chief from the popular “Halo” video game franchise, the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda. 

In Sarasota and Manatee counties, several politicians received votes, including Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Mitt Romney, U.S. Supreme Court associate justice Amy Coney Barrett, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, former Vice President Al Gore, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former speaker of the House Paul Ryan, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Several deceased presidents also received votes, including Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.

Other celebrities received submissions. It included TV personality Oprah Winfrey, Alabama football coach Nick Saban, podcaster Joe Rogan, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, legendary musician Elton John, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning, actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, deceased pop icon Michael Jackson, musician Joe Walsh, a combined ticket of “Fast and Furious” actors Vin Diesel and the deceased Paul Walker, comic actor Bill Murray and comedian Dave Chappelle.

Chappelle hosted the Nov. 7 edition of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” He also hosted the show in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election.

The write-in list goes on and on, ranging from historical figures, cartoon characters, “someone actually competent” and “anyone else.”