Due to Michigan’s controversial “sore-loser law,” Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for president, will not appear on the ballot in Michigan this November. However, he is on the ballot in at least 47 other states and is considered by many to be the only candidate with a mathematical chance of winning, outside of the two-party majority rule, of course. The Michigan for Gary Johnson Facebook page recently posted a tutorial on how to write-in Johnson in Michigan (see below). Since not everyone uses Facebook, we wanted to extend this important information to our users, too. Our mission here at CompareMyCandidates.com is to provide brutally honest information on all of the candidates, not just the Republican and Democrat candidates like the mainstream media.
Compare Gary Johnson’s Issue Stances to those of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney
Sadly, the Michigan GOP has pulled out every dirty trick in the book to keep Governor Johnson off the ballot in Michigan. Despite this, we are not going to be shut out and you will be able to vote for Gary Johnson as as write-in candidate.
There is usually little room on the ballots to write-in a candidate’s name, so while “Gary Johnson” and “James P. Gray” have both turned in the neccessary paperwork, your vote should be counted by writing in “Gary Johnson, James P. Gray” as well as checking off on your ballot that you are voting for a write-in candidate.
Depending on how your ballot looks, this may be a circle that needs to be filled in, a line that should be connected, or something else. It will be consistant with the rest of your ballot.
Will writing in Gary Johnson spoil my ballot?
Absolutely not, we have gotten no indication that doing so would spoil your ballot. There were issues raised with this during the 2008 presidential primaries, however the Secretary of State has said that their office will count write-in votes for president as long as the person is a registered write-in candidate.
What do I have to do to make sure my ballot is counted?
Indicate on the ballot that you are voting for a write-in candiate for president and write “Gary Johnson”
Why do I have to write-in Gary Johnson? Why isn’t he on the ballot?
After the Secretary of State refused to remove Governor Johnson and Herman Cain from the 2012 Republican primary ballot, she informed us that the state’s “sore loser” law applied, and that governor Johnson would be ineligeable for the general election ballot. Despite a series of lawsuits in US federal court, we have been unable to change this.
If I have to write-in Gary Johnson, why wouldn’t I just write in Ron Paul?
The only write-in votes that will be counted are those that are for candidtes who filed the affidavits with the state of Michigan, basically if your candidate didn’t do the paperwork your vote for them will not count. We also have to remember that we don’t have a single election in this country, we have thousands of small local, precinct level elections happening at the same time. Those ballots are checked at the precinct level, so if you are thinking that maybe you can make a statement by writing in Ron Paul, the only person who is going to see it is a poll worker in your city or township, who will not count or record the vote. The total number of write-in votes for any candidate, including Ron Paul, who are not declared candidates, will not be counted. Votes for Gary Johnson however, will be counted and we will have a state-wide total once all the ballots are overlooked.
Will the campaign have stickers that voters can place on their ballots?
No, in Michigan you are not allowed anything with the candidates name on it once you are inside the polling location and write-in stickers are not legal and will not be accepted. To vote for Gary Johnson, you must write-in “Gary Johnson, James P. Gray”. Other states allow stickers, Michigan is not one of them.
If I vote straight ticket libertarian, will I still have to write-in Gary Johnson?
Yes! Even if you vote straight ticket Libertarian party, since there is no slot for the Libertarian Party under the presidential candidates, no vote for president will be counted unless you write in “Gary Johnson, James P. Gray”
Do I need to write in Governor Johnson and Judge Gray?
While we have been told that votes for “Gary Johnson” will count, we officially recommend writing in “Gary Johnson and James P. Gray”. See this example from the Michigan Libertarian Party:
Example of how to write-in Gary Johnson and James P. Gray
Tagged with: 2012 Elections, Barack Obama, Gary Johnson, michigan, Mitt Romney, write-in
