“Unhappy with Trump? Want to Write In Pence? It Doesn’t Work That Way.”
That’s the title of a story by Colorado Public Radio’s Ryan Warner, who did a nice job fact checking U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner Monday, reporting that if Gardner writes in the name of Mike Pence as his pick for president, as he promised Sunday, his presidential vote won’t be counted at all.
Warner interiewed Suzanne Staiert, Colorado’s deputy Secretary of State, who said on air that as long as Trump is on the ballot, Gardner’s vote for Pence wouldn’t matter.
Warner : And if someone says they’re going to write-in Mike Pence?
Stairt: “They won’t be counted. It’ll just count as an undervote essentially unless the Republican Party makes some sort of change.”
During the interview, Staiert said “a write-in candidate would need to file an affidavit 15 days before the election for votes to count.”
But the CPR piece was later corrected to state, “In fact, the affidavit would have to have been filed at least 110 days before the election.”
So Gardner has settled on Pence waaaay too late. Or maybe not. Maybe he wants to cast a vote that won’t count?
Omitted from the CPR piece was the question on many listeners’ minds: “So who is Gardner going to vote for?”
Warner should bring Gardner on the show to address that question.