EUGENE — When the appointed incumbent for the Lane County Circuit Court Position 7 mistakenly failed to file paperwork to appear on the ballot, he set in motion a lively and time-consuming write-in contest.
Incumbent Jay McAlpin ultimately won the race, but it took the Lane County Elections Department nearly two weeks after the Nov. 6 contest to add up the results. Some voters took the contest in jest, writing in names ranging from cartoon character Homer Simpson to abolitionist Harriet Tubman to “Ann Heiser-Bush."
Other voters wrote in dozens of local attorneys. Voters also appeared to write in their own names — or those of friends, foes, co-workers and neighbors.
Teams of regular and temporary election workers compiled precinct-by-precinct alphabetical lists of names written in, according to The Register-Guard .
Failed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was penned in five times and Barack Obama four times, once listed as “Barracko Bama."
When it came to celebrity candidates, actors Chuck Norris got five votes and Clint Eastwood got three. Fictitious characters James Bond and Clark Kent received two votes each.
