It’s not too late

Write-in candidates need to notify election officials of their plans to seek office if they want their votes counted under a rule designed to prevent Mickey Mouse and Daffy Duck from mounting write-in campaigns.
The deadline to notify the election office of write-in candidacy plans is June 18 by filing a certificate of write-in candidacy. After that date, even if a candidate were to get the most votes in the election, none of their votes would be counted or recorded. The reason, according to election administrator Donna Yates, is the large number of write-in votes which were tallied each election.
‘Folks can still vote for Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck if they want to, but those votes just won’t be counted,’ said Yates, barring the unlikely event that one of the cartoon characters files his legal documentation. ‘And yes, we get votes for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck all the time, at least we used to. Or, a favorite is none of the above. If a person wants their votes counted, then they must notify us by the deadline otherwise those write-ins will be disregarded.’
The state law passed in 2003 does not prevent people from mounting a write-in campaign or winning office by write-in as the option is still available during all elections. Instead, the law requires anyone wanting their votes counted as a write-in to notify the election office in writing no later than 20 days before an election.
One candidate, William Bonner, has already put in his name for the open 1st District constable spot. There are four constable spots up for election this time due to resignations, with three having no candidate. There are also three school board spots up for election. The deadline in question is just for the August elections here. A new deadline will be posted later for the November elections.
Yates noted the election office will be closed June 9-11 for its annual training seminar, but will re-open June 12.