A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be possible to win an election by winning a sufficient number of such write-in votes, which count equally as if the person were formally listed on the ballot.
Writing in a name that is not already on the election ballot is a permitted practice in the United States. Some other jurisdictions have also allowed this practice. In the United States, there are variations in laws governing write-in candidates, depending on the office (federal or local) and whether the election is a primary election or the general election; general practice is an empty field close by annotated to explain its purpose on the ballot if it applies. In five U.S. states there are no elections to which it can apply, under their present laws. Election laws are enacted by each state and in the District of Columbia, to apply to their voters.
How to write in the name Some U.S. states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker, with the write-in candidate's name, to the ballot in lieu of actually writing in the candidate's name.
Write-in candidacies are sometimes a result of a candidate being legally or procedurally ineligible to run under their own name or party; write-in candidacies may be permitted where term limits bar an incumbent candidate from being officially nominated for, or being listed on the ballot for, re-election. They are also typically used when a candidate, often an incumbent, has lost a primary election but still wishes to contest the general election, as in most U.S. a candidate who has lost a primary cannot later appear on the general election ballot as an independent candidate under sore loser laws.
In some cases, write-in campaigns have been organized to support a candidate who is not personally involved in running; this may be a form of draft campaign.
Write-in candidates may have to register as candidates Write-in candidates have won elections on rare occasions. Also, write-in votes are sometimes cast for ineligible people or fictional characters, often as a form of protest vote.
Some jurisdictions require write-in candidates be registered as official candidates before the election.See, for example, Section 1-4-1101, Colorado Revised Statutes (2008) This is standard in elections with a large pool of potential candidates, as there may be multiple candidates with the same name that could be written in.
The spoiler effect In some cases, the number of write-in votes cast in an election is greater than the entire margin of victory, suggesting that the write-ins may have been sufficient to tip the balance and change the outcome of the election by creating a spoiler effect.
Primary elections in the United States Many U.S. states and municipalities allow for write-in votes in a partisan primary election where no candidate is listed on the ballot to have the same functional effect as nominating petitions: for example, if there are no Reform Party members on the ballot for state general assembly and a candidate receives more than 200 write-in votes when the primary election is held (or the other number of signatures that were required for ballot access), the candidate will be placed on the ballot on that ballot line for the general election. In most places, this provision is in place for non-partisan elections as well.
Write-in option in a referendum A write-in option may occasionally be available in a multiple-choice referendum; for example in the January 1982 Guamanian status referendum.
Contrast from a blank ballot election system
The term "write-in candidate" is used in elections in which names of candidates or parties are preprinted on a paper ballot or displayed on an electronic voting machine. The term is not generally used in elections in which all ballots are blank and thus all voters must write in the names of their preferred candidates. Blank ballot election systems reduce the cost of printing the ballots, but increase the complexity of casting and counting votes.
Such systems are used in Japan, and were used in the past in the French Second Republic and in elections in the Philippines from World War II until the 2010 general election. Unusually, this system was also used in Canada for the 2025 Battle River—Crowfoot federal by-election, due to over 200 candidates having been nominated; the election had been targeted by the Longest Ballot Committee, whose previous efforts had resulted in unwieldy preprinted ballots with as many as 91 candidates.
Some systems use a semi-blank ballot, such as Finland, where the voter must fill in a candidate's given number or letter from a separate ballot, but where there is a clear-cut arrangement with a circle or box with a description of how to vote for a given candidate. Blank-ballot systems typically require candidates to be nominated in advance.
United States
The requirements to appear on the general election ballot as an independent candidate or to have write-in votes counted vary by state and by political office sought.
As of 2024, 40 states and the District of Columbia allow write-in votes on their ballots, including for president; Alaska, New Mexico and South Carolina allow write-in candidates for some offices but not for president; Mississippi allows write-in votes only to substitute a candidate listed on the ballot who was removed, withdrew or died; Arkansas, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, Oklahoma and South Dakota do not allow any write-in votes. Most of the jurisdictions allowing write-in votes require that the write-in candidates register by a certain date for their votes to be counted. Typically this registration consists only of a declaration of candidacy, but some states also require signatures of a certain number of voters, additional paperwork or fees. The deadline to register as a write-in candidate is usually later than to petition to be listed on the ballot.
2024 presidential general election
+Requirements for independent candidates for president in the 2024 United States general electionState or district Petition to be listed on ballot Registration as write-in candidate Sources signatures fee deadline signatures fee deadline Alabama 5,000 — colspan=3 Alaska 3,614 — colspan=3 Arizona 42,303 — — — Arkansas 5,000 — colspan=3 California 219,403 — — — Colorado 12,000 — — — Connecticut 7,500 — — — Delaware 7,690 — — — District of Columbia 4,573 — — — Florida 145,040 — — — Georgia 7,500 — — — Hawaii 5,798 — colspan=3 Idaho 1,000 — — — Illinois 25,000 — — — Indiana 36,943 — — — Iowa 3,500— colspan=3 Kansas 5,000 — — $20 Kentucky 5,000 $500 — $50 Louisiana 5,000 — rowspan=2 colspan=3 — $500 Maine 4,000 — — — Maryland 10,000 — — — Massachusetts 10,000 — — — Michigan 12,000 — — — Minnesota 2,000 — — — Mississippi 1,000 $2,500 colspan=3 Missouri 10,000 — — — Montana 5,000 $1,740 — $1,740 Nebraska 2,500 — — — Nevada 10,096 $250 colspan=3 New Hampshire 3,000 $250 colspan=3 New Jersey 800 — colspan=3 New Mexico 3,561 — colspan=3 New York 45,000 — — — North Carolina 83,188 — 500 — North Dakota 4,000 — — — Ohio 5,000 — — — Oklahoma 34,599 — rowspan=2 colspan=3 — $35,000Oregon 23,744 — colspan=3 Pennsylvania 5,000 $200 colspan=3 Rhode Island 1,000 — colspan=3 South Carolina 10,000 — colspan=3 South Dakota 3,502 — colspan=3 Tennessee 275 — — — Texas 113,151 — — — Utah 1,000 $500 — $500 Vermont 1,000 — colspan=3 Virginia 5,000 — — — Washington 1,000 — — — West Virginia 7,947 $2,500 — — Wisconsin 2,000 — — — Wyoming 3,891 $750 colspan=3
Notes
Presidential primary In the 1960 presidential elections, both major party candidates won a few primaries as write-in candidates, in contests that did not feature any candidates named on the ballot. John F. Kennedy won the Democratic primaries as a write-in candidate in Illinois (with 34,332 votes), Massachusetts (with 91,607 votes), and Pennsylvania (with 183,073 votes). Richard Nixon won the Republican primaries as a write-in candidate in Massachusetts (with 53,164 votes) and in Nebraska (with 74,356 votes). Kennedy also received write-in votes in the Republican primaries in New Hampshire (2,196 votes, which were 3.0% of votes cast), Massachusetts (2,989 votes, which were 4.8% of votes cast), Pennsylvania (3,886 votes, which were 0.4% of votes cast), and Oregon (2,864 votes, which were 1.3% of votes cast). In the 1964 Republican presidential primary, a write-in campaign organized by supporters of former U.S. Senator and vice presidential nominee Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. won the Republican primaries for president in New Hampshire defeating the frontrunner candidate Barry Goldwater. Lodge also won the Republican presidential primaries in New Jersey as a write-in candidate, as the primaries (for both the Democratic and Republican parties) featured no candidates, with all votes cast requiring candidates' names be written-in (Lodge also received a handful of votes in the Democratic primary). In the 1968 Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire, incumbent President Lyndon Johnson did not file, but agreed to have his supporters mount a write-in campaign on his behalf. His write-in campaign received 48% of the votes. Senator Eugene McCarthy, who campaigned actively against Johnson's Vietnam War policies, was on the ballot and received 42% of the vote. McCarthy's strong showing led Johnson to withdraw from the race two and a half weeks later. In the 1992 Democratic presidential primary and the 1992 Republican presidential primary, consumer advocate Ralph Nader ran a write-in campaign during the New Hampshire primary for the presidential nomination of both parties. Declaring himself the "none of the above candidate" and using his Concord Principles as his platform, Nader received 3,054 votes from Democrats and 3,258 votes from Republicans.NH US President - R PrimaryNH US President - D Primary In the 2024 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, incumbent president Joe Biden received 79,100 write-in votes, more than any listed candidate. Biden did not run in the primary because of a dispute between the Democratic National Committee and the New Hampshire Democratic Party regarding the scheduling of that year's Democratic presidential primary. Biden did not support the write-in effort mounted by his supporters.
U.S. Senate
Republican William Knowland was elected in 1946 to the U.S. Senate from California, for a two-month term. The special election for the two-month term featured a November ballot with no names printed on it, and all candidates in that special election were write-in candidates.Washington Post, "Murkowski appears to make history in Alaska", Debbi Wilgoren, November 3, 2010 (accessed November 3, 2010) Democrat Strom Thurmond was elected in 1954 to the United States Senate in South Carolina as a write-in candidate, after state Democratic leaders had blocked him from receiving the party's nomination. In 2010 incumbent Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski lost the Republican primary to Joe Miller.Official election results for the 2010 primaries. Alaska Division of Elections. Following her defeat she ran in the general election as a write-in candidate. Murkowski had filed, and won, a lawsuit requiring election officials to have the list of names of write-in candidates distributed at the polls, and subsequently won the election with a wide enough margin over both Miller, and Democratic Party candidate Scott T. McAdams, to make moot the write-in ballots that had been challenged by Miller.