Write-ins, ‘none of these’ would give voters choices

Before this past legislative session, Arkansans could not write in a candidate’s name in almost all elections. Now, they can’t in any of them.

Act 305 took away that option.

It barely passed, with 18 senators – the bare minimum required – voting yes. Three voted no and 13 voted present. It passed overwhelmingly in the House, with 85 yes votes.

The law banned a practice that was rare, partly because of how the write-in process was structured. Previously, voters could only vote for declared write-in candidates who had filed for election during the party filing period.

In other words, a write-in candidate couldn’t arise at the end of a campaign where there was widespread dissatisfaction with the major party candidates. Nor could voters on their own initiative write in someone’s name as a protest vote.

That’s not how the law always worked. In 1958, Arkansas elected only the second write-in candidate ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Eight days before the election, Dr. Thomas Alford announced his write-in candidacy against the incumbent, Rep. Brooks Hays, and beat him.

How Alford got his name out that quickly in the days before the internet and cable TV is beyond me.

But it was a different environment. Alford, a Little Rock School Board member, was running as a school segregationist, while Hays had said schools needed to comply with the Supreme Court ruling outlawing segregation. This was the year after the Little Rock Central High crisis occurred. Alford was elected.

Some people call those the good old days.

Another reason write-in candidates couldn’t win in recent elections is because tribalism and negative partisanship have taken over politics. People vote for the party they like or against they one they don’t. They’re looking for the “R” and “D.”

It’s a shame the write-in option faded long ago and now is gone. Voters need a chance to speak their mind in the ballot box – especially next year.

That’s because the 2024 presidential election likely will feature two candidates, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, that a majority of Americans do not support.

What options do those Americans have? First, they can vote for the major party candidate they dislike the least, which is what often happens.

Second, they can vote for a third party, which also may be unacceptable. No third party has gained any traction for a long time, and many are fringe efforts. The largest third party, the Libertarians, have some anti-government ideas that don’t have popular support, and they have never cracked 3% in Arkansas in a race for governor or president. The national group No Labels may run a centrist unity ticket with a credible Republican for president and a Democrat for vice president, or vice versa. But they haven’t decided if they’ll have a candidate yet.

The third option for voters is to leave a ballot spot blank or not vote in the election at all – a silent statement that doesn’t change anything.

While a write-in option wouldn’t elect anyone, it would give voters a chance to express their dissatisfaction and let off a little steam. If 1,000 Arkansans spontaneously voted for an unannounced candidate for president – maybe Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders or former Gov. Mike Beebe – it would make a statement.

There is another option: Allowing voters to choose “none of these candidates,” as they can in Nevada. In an eight-person 2014 Democratic primary for governor, “none of these candidates” got the most votes, but by state law the second place finisher – and top human – received the nomination.

If we really wanted to put some teeth into that option, we could require a new election in that circumstance. If we owned a business and all the applicants for a job opening were unacceptable, we probably would re-advertise the position. That would be messy in races for offices like president or governor where somebody must fill the position at all times, but it’s something to think about.

Neither write-in candidates nor “none of these candidates” would fix all that’s wrong with American politics. But those options would let dissatisfied Arkansans vote their conscience or at least voice their displeasure.

Either would beat what we have now: having no choice but to vote for someone we don’t support, or not vote in that race at all.

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