April 21, 2011 09:00 PM UTC

What's In a Name?

• 5 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

(cross-posted at Colorado Pols)

Former Denver City Council member Carla Madison was running unopposed for re-election when she died on April 5 after a two-year battle with cancer. Because ballots for the May 3 Municipal Election had already been printed, any candidate wishing to run for City Council in District 8 could only do so as a write-in candidate.

The deadline to declare yourself as a write-in candidate passed on April 18, and there are 38 candidates who could be elected to the city council as a write-in choice.

As we’ve written before, winning a write-in campaign against someone whose name appears on the ballot is virtually impossible to do on a local level because voters need to be able to do more than just recognize your name — they have to remember it enough to write it down. In a Denver Municipal election where most voters don’t even know who’s running for Mayor, we’re fascinated to see how this will turn out. Candidates have very little time to campaign and get their name out, and while we’ve gotten various press releases touting endorsements, none of that matters unless voters remember how to spell your name. As the Denver Elections Division explains:

Write-in candidates do not appear on the ballot. A write-in candidate’s name must be physically written in (no stamps or stickers) on the “write-in” line for that race on the ballot. Voters must also connect the arrow on the write-in line for the vote to be counted.

We don’t know enough about what other options Denver had for filling the seat in District 8 other than to force a massive write-in election, but obviously this isn’t a great way to choose an elected official. With ballots already in the mail, the eventual winner in District 8 may just be the person who has the most memorable name…period. Just for a moment, ignore any qualifications or endorsements and just look at the list of names below — which “name” do you think voters would be most likely to remember to write down on a ballot?

Our best guess is that Britt Gallagher, whoever that is, has a distinct advantage because he (or she?) has the same last name as long-time Denver politician Dennis Gallagher, whose name will appear on the ballot for re-election as Denver Auditor (was there no-one named Ed Hickenlooper in District 8?) But what say you, Polsters?