On Election Day, residents in two Lee County communities will not be able to choose a candidate's name off the ballot. But, that won't stop residents from penciling someone in.
Lee County Auditor Denise Fraise said since no one took out papers to run for city council or mayor in Montrose and Franklin, the ballots will feature blank spaces where names should be.
While its unusual to have no candidates for a political office, Fraise said it's not unprecedented in Lee County.
Fraise said the lack of candidates in Montrose and Franklin along with more open races than candidates, means write-in candidates should do pretty well during Tuesday's election.
"I remember years ago a school board election here in Lee County was won by three write-in candidates," said Fraise.
Iowa seems to encourage write-in campaigns more than neighbors states. In Iowa, whomever has the most votes at the end of the night wins.
In contrast, Illinois requires write-in candidates to file a declaration of intent several months ahead of election day. Missouri does the same, but only in races where there is one confirmed candidate in the race.
Fraise said the potential for write-in candidates is no more evident than in Montrose which has a history of electing the town's mayor this way.
- 2007 - Greg Ruth wins mayoral race as write-in over two candidates on the ballot.
- 2009 - Ron Dinwiddie wins mayoral race as write-in over Ruth, whose name was on the ballot.
- 2011 - Bobby Reid wins mayoral race as write-in over one candidate on the ballot
- 2013 - Bobby Reid survived a write-in campaign to remain mayor.
Fraise said when there are write-in votes, they are examined and tallied by precinct workers after the polls close. She said it's important to note that spelling a name correctly is not a requirement, as long as you are close.
"It's up to the precinct workers," said Fraise. "It's their call. Let's say they spell my name 'Frazee', they just have to determine what the intent of the voter was."
Fraise said while the write-in votes are counted on Election Day, they are not released to the public. Instead, she said they will first be reviewed by her office just to make sure.
