Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT), who failed in his renomination bid after his own party dumped him at its convention earlier this month, hasn’t ruled out a write-in campaign.
But if he did attempt to win as a write-in, it’d be a tough, unprecedented undertaking.
No write-in candidate for major statewide office or state legislative office has won in the last 30 years, according to Mark Thomas, office administrator for Utah’s Lieutenant Governor.
There have been some small-time write-in candidates that have won local city council races in Utah, Thomas tells TPM. But that’s hardly the same thing as a full-blown Senate campaign.
“I think it kinda speaks for itself,” Thomas said. “It’s obviously difficult.”
But that doesn’t mean impossible.
“If there’s anyone who could win as a write-in, it would be Bennett,” Thomas says. “He obviously has the resources and the name power.”
So if Bennett did run as a write-in candidate, how would it work?
There are nearly no procedural hurdles. Anyone — provided they meet the state’s requirements on basic dimensions like residency, age and citizenship — can become a write-in candidate. They just have to let the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s office know at least 30 days before the general election. Once a candidate fills out a simple form advising the state of his or her write-in intentions, they’re officially in the race.
The reason the state requires write-in candidates to advise the Lieutenant Governor’s office of their intention is so time isn’t wasted counting write-in votes for make-believe candidates like Mickey Mouse or Santa Claus.
Of course, write-in candidates won’t get their names on the ballot — or anywhere at polling places. And it’s too late for Bennett to get his name on the ballot, even as an independent or unaffiliated candidate. The deadline for that filing came and went in March.
It’s worth noting, too, that in Utah, voters don’t actually write in the name of write-in candidates. They’re more like type-in candidates.
Utah polling places use touch-screen voting machines that require voters to key in a write-in candidate’s name using on on-screen keyboard.
And spelling doesn’t really count. The state allows for determinations to be made on a voter’s intent with write-in candidate names, even if they don’t type it in exactly right.
