Kanye West, Breonna Taylor and Jesus: Some NC voters picked own choices for president

President Donald Trump claimed victory in North Carolina one week after Election Day, shortly after The Associated Press declared former Vice President Joe Biden the new president-elect. But not all North Carolina voters backed one of the candidates at the top of the ballot.

Voters often write in candidates to show their displeasure with those officially running. This year, some used the write-in space to bring attention to the countrywide protests this year after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who received one vote for president and two votes in the Board of Education race in Wake County.

Voter turnout in the state this year – about 75% of all eligible voters – set a record, surpassing 2008 when 70% of voters cast ballots.

This year, 13,196 votes for president across North Carolina were write-ins, about 0.24%, a big decrease compared to 2016, when almost 48,000 votes were write-ins, or 1% of all the votes.

There were about 1,000 more write-ins than votes for Howie Hawkins, the presidential candidate of the Green Party, who received 12,195 votes, or 0.22%. Don Blankenship, who ran for the Constitution Party, received 7,549 votes, 0.14% of the total votes.

Under state rules, only legitimate write-ins are counted in the total number of write-ins accepted by the state elections board. To be considered a legitimate write-in candidate for any race, the petitioner must fill in a written request to the N.C. State Board of Elections specifying his or her candidacy for office. Candidates must also submit a form with the signatures of 500 qualified and registered voters.

Candidates must present their petitions at the state elections board 90 days before the general election, which this year was Aug. 5, according to state rules. However, the petitions must be submitted to the corresponding county elections board to be verified 15 days before the state deadline, which this year was July 21.

The counties keep a record of all write-ins, including votes for non-registered candidates and fictional characters like Mickey Mouse. But the State Board of Elections will only include accepted candidates in the official results.

Kanye West tops list

In Wake County, rapper Kanye West, who announced his candidacy for president July 4, received the most votes at 172.

Other celebrities, like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Selena Gomez, O’Shea Jackson — also known as Ice Cube — and Dolly Parton also received some votes.

Among candidates who participated in the Democratic presidential debates, Bernie Sanders received 129 votes, while Andrew Yang got 56 and Tulsi Gabbard, 65.

Former President George W. Bush, got nine votes. But even those who have died had their supporters, including Ronald Reagan with 12 votes and Abraham Lincoln with three.

Some other voters turned to their faith: Jesus and Jesus Christ received a combined 73 votes, and God got another 16. Both names appeared in many other races, including for Board of Education and soil and water conservation district supervisor.

But not everybody could name a better candidate.

Fourteen voters cast ballots for “anyone else,” “anyone different” and “any other clown.” And 51 voters decided that “none of the above” or “none of them” was the best option.

This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 1:55 PM with the headline "Kanye West, Breonna Taylor and Jesus: Some NC voters picked own choices for president."