The 2016 Presidential Election has finally, mercifully, has come to its end. Soon, millions across the nation will be able to unblock their family members and begin reconnecting with the half dozen friends they've lost in the last year. Primaries are over, voter registration is over, early voting is underway, and we've only got one more obstacle to haul ourselves over.
Election Day
Tuesday, November 8th is Election Day. (Unless you're Donald Trump--then it's on the 28th, and don't let the liberal media tell you any different!!)
Voters are feeling extreme discontentment with the two viable candidates of this election. One who gives you a "bad feeling" despite an impressive professional history and being cleared by unprecedented amounts of investigations, and the other who's a humanoid xenophobic, Islamophobic, sexist, moldy tangerine. Obviously, they have every right to vote outside of the two mainstream candidates. Still, some have trouble stomaching voting for either Jill Stein or Gary Johnson. One actively panders to far left liberals and tries to piggyback off the campaign of a man who has disavowed her, and the other was probably so high he failed his world geography class.
For the voters so disenfranchised by these options, there's the write-in vote! Check the box and write down whoever you think would be the best president! It's that simple, right?
Wrong.
To write in a candidate and have your vote be counted, it would have to be written in for a candidate who is certified as a write-in. Tallying these votes will take a day or two longer than tallying votes for candidates whose names actually appeared on the ballot and a misspelling can result in your vote being thrown out. There are currently 18 candidates registered for write-ins. Which brings me to my main point.
Why is there a movement to write-in Bernie Sanders?
The Vermont senator and progressive sweetheart sparked passionate response across the country in this election. Sadly, he did not win the Democratic nomination during the primaries. However, in a true show of statesmanship and pragmatism, Bernie Sanders conceded to Secretary Clinton and immediately began working to convince his supporters to show up for Hillary, and to unite against Donald Trump. He's been passionately campaigning for his former competitor, even at Kent State's Rec Center. Yet somehow, some of his supporters have refused to accept reality or Bernie's own wishes, proudly stating their intention to write Sanders in on their ballot.
Even more amazing is the instant and angry backlash I get for pointing out that's ridiculous. They claim that no, it's not throwing away their vote. There's a movement on social media that's prompting Sanders supporters to write in the senator.
What's the problem? Senator Sanders is not listed as a write-in candidate. Votes cast for him will actually not count. I don't mean the typical "your candidate will never win, your vote is basically pointless" either. I mean that you're writing in an unregistered candidate who doesn't want to be written in.
You may as well toss your ballot in here and brag about it on Facebook.
Vote wisely this November, folks. Or, at least, don't make it a point to let everyone know you have no idea how the write-in vote works.
