This article was written by BenitoLink intern Ashlyn Manninen. Lea este artículo en español aquí.
With the Nov. 5 election approaching, candidates, elections and voting are frequent topics of conversation—and since electoral politics can have a huge impact on individuals and society, it’s generally treated as a serious subject. But that isn’t always the case.
BenitoLink sat down with San Benito County Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters Francisco Diaz, who shared some lighthearted election day stories—as well as a handful of stories about some voters’ habits.
Diaz shared a moment from the primary election in March. A woman in her 80s planned to walk from her home near downtown to the elections office, out by the airport, the day of the primary. The woman said she had never missed voting in an election in her life, and that she didn’t care if it was going to take her all day. Voting was that important to her.
At some point along her walk, she contacted the elections office to see how much farther she had to go. Both parties realized she wasn’t even halfway there and most likely wasn’t going to make it in time to cast her vote.
This story is a special case and things like this don’t generally happen but Diaz got in his car and picked up the woman and brought her to the elections office, where she was able to cast her vote in time.
When it comes to election day, Diaz said, there is never a dull moment and always something unpredictable going on. Diaz mentioned that poll workers are always nearby to lend a hand in unexpected moments. One year, when in-person voting was held at the airport, a voter’s dog ended up getting loose and poll workers were among those running around the airport to catch the dog. One poll worker also helped a man after he had locked his keys in his car at the polling station.
In recent years, he said, he has seen citizens show up to vote accompanied by nontraditional support animals including a parrot and an iguana.
Some poll workers have lent their glasses to citizens who are having a hard time reading the ballot. Diaz also mentioned that some citizens bring doughnuts or cookies to poll workers on election day, as a way of thanking them for their efforts.
In any type of election, the elections office receives ballots where citizens manually write in candidates. Normally the office sees about 500 to 1,000 such ballots. Not all of these are serious.
Generally, this kind of write-in candidate involves someone who is trending in the media at the moment, like a character from a TV show or a celebrity. The reason why people write in candidates like this is unknown, but it’s most likely for some comic relief. According to Diaz, Jesus Christ and Mickey Mouse are the two most popular write-in candidates.
Politicians who ended up not being qualified for the ballot are another common write-in candidate. Write-in voting is allowed in California but it can be risky, as write-in candidates need to be registered with the state in order for any votes cast for them to be counted. Otherwise, a vote for a write-in candidate is essentially a wasted vote—even if it is not intended as a statement or a joke.
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