“There was only one name on the ballot, the murderer” – an unusual American election

The decision by Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich to ‘write-in’ the name of fellow Republican John McCain on his Presidential ballot paper, rather than vote for official party candidate Donald Trump, has given prominence to the unusual (to British eyes) American practice of letting voters write-in the name of anyone as a candidate in an elections.

A BBC round-up includes this bizarre example of when the American practice comes in rather useful:

There are instances when write-ins do serve an important purpose, such as when there is a sudden death or indictment of a candidate.

Winger cites a 1998 state legislative race in Tennessee, when the Republican nominee was arrested for murdering the Democratic nominee just before the ballots were printed, and they were the only two candidates on the ballot.

“The Democratic nominee’s name was removed from the ballot because he was dead. The Republican nominee had not yet been convicted, so his name had to remain on the ballot. So there was only one name on the ballot, the murderer,” he says. He was later convicted.

“Fortunately Tennessee allows write-ins, and the murdered man’s widow launched a write-in campaign and she won with 90% of the vote.”