You always here how one vote matters, and yet it never seems true. I mean, even in close elections it is still a matter of hundreds or thousands of votes, not one or two. This is at least true for national and state wide elections. But it's not always true in the case of local elections.
We learned that lesson here in Williamsburg, VA this past week, with an interesting twist involving Stephen Colbert.
Follow me below the jump to find out more...
On Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007, citizens of VA went out to vote for all sorts of elections, as most of you may know. In the balance was the VA State Senate, and possible (though in the end, not) the House of Delegates. But what about local elections?
Here in the City of Williamsburg, there was no contested elections. The State Senator and State Delegate were unopposed. The Sheriff, Commonwealth's Attorney, and Clerk of Court were all unopposed. Kind of a boring election, right? Not necessarily.
You see, there was one race where an impact could be made. For the Soil and Water Conservation Board, you were allowed to choose two candidates. But the problem was, only one person ran. So what to do? Write in someone. Several friends of mine here at William & Mary Law School decided to write in Stephen Colbert. (I couldn't because I'm not registered here.) Why not? He has already indicated an interest in electoral office. And I'm all for him getting some experience before his next run for President.
And so we waited and waited and this morning, we got some interesting news. Apparently, Stephen Colbert tied for the second seat.
Colbert, 43, and two students from the College of William and Mary each received three write-in votes in the Nov. 6 election for a seat on the board that oversees natural resources.
This is from the AP Article: Colbert in 3-Way Tie for Va. Soils Board. So what then? We all got a crash course in VA's election law.
It turns out in today's day and age, VA determines these types of ties with a simple measure: drawing a name from a hat! Crazy? I think so. While I don't know if that procedure is true for all spots, imagine a State Senator being chosen with this type of method. Now imagine control of the Senate being in the balance. Something has to change.
But wait, you say. That article above said he could not be in the drawing as he wasn't a resident. This was what we all thought, until the Washington Post called the State Board of Elections. The Board said that Colbert had to be allowed, as he could become a resident before taking office. I'm going to attempt to link to the article where this information can be found, but it's an older version, so it may not work. The Washington Post Article. From this article:
In keeping with the democratic principles envisioned by the founding fathers -- some of whom spent a good bit of time in Williamsburg, the three names will now be put into a hat, and the winner of a drawing -- the date of which remained unclear -- will be offered the post. Colbert, although not a Williamsburg resident, will be offered the chance to establish residency and seize the sought-after executive position, said Williamsburg Voter Registrar Win Sowder.
"It's pretty funny, actually," said Sowder, who added that it was originally thought Colbert would be ineligible, but that a Virginia State Board of Elections official told her Colbert would have to be given a chance if his name was picked.
So Colbert is in, right? But, wait! Another interesting twist. In a surprise announcement, it seems that all the excitement is for naught. In Colbert Suffers Second Political Setback, the Washington Post now informs us that:
Win Sowder, the voter registrar in Williamsburg, confirmed the three-way tie this morning. However, Chris Faia, secretary of the Williamsburg Electoral Board, said later in the day that it had been a misunderstanding and that Colbert had received one less write-in vote than the other two men, meaning he was not in the running for the position.
Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have a show of hand of who believes that a) someone mistook a number 2 for a number 3 and b) this mistake continued even after the Washington Post got involved? Personally, I'm not convinced, and I believe that Mr. Faia is attempting to avoid the publicity (which may not all be good). I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens next.
I have to add this thought expressed by one of the other write in candidates, as quoted in the original AP article I linked to above.
Matt Beato, 20, a government major who chairs the college's student assembly senate, expressed concern over the write-in process.
"I'm not crazy, but any nut case could win with three votes," Beato said. "Somebody should make sure that doesn't happen."
Make sure it doesn't happen Matt? Personally, I'm all for ballot access to all. While this situation is unique, it should not be used to keep people from expressing their choices. Even if the choice may not be serious, it gets people out and voting, and I'd assume that they cast votes for official candidates in other races (as at least was the case for my friends here).
But in the end, the moral of the story is that every vote, even the funs, count. And isn't that what we want?