COLUMBUS, OHIO — Ohio election officials introduced a new voting option Tuesday for residents who want to cast a ballot for a candidate who is not running.
The “Provisional Imagination Ballot” allows voters to write the words “I believe” in any empty space on their ballot. County boards will count the submission as a spiritual vote of confidence. It will have no effect on actual representation.
“The president asked Ohioans to pretend he is on the ballot,” said Carla Meeks, a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office. “We had no procedure for that, so we built one.” She called the form “a necessary emotional accommodation.”
The policy follows a late-night rally in Dayton where Sleepy Don asked supporters to “please pretend that I’m on the ballot.” He also promised each attendee a $5,000 check if Republicans win. Congress had not approved the money, and the Congressional Budget Office had not reviewed it.
The Ohio Elections Commission passed the measure by emergency order under House Resolution 7, the Imagined Ballots Act. The resolution cites “emotional suffrage needs” as its legal basis. It does not cite any actual state law.
Under the guidance, voters who complete an imagination ballot will receive a receipt. The receipt will read, “Your feelings have been recorded.” It will not be sent to any elected office and will be filed in a cabinet labeled “Mandate, Perceived.”
A recent survey placed the president’s disapproval at 59 percent. Meeks said the new ballot would “capture the confidence that polling cannot.” She added that county boards would accept no legal challenges based on the results.
The form includes a checkbox reading, “I understand this vote will not count.” Voters who check the box will receive a confirmation number. Voters who do not check it will receive the same number.
The commission has printed 1.2 million imagination ballots at a cost of $840,000. The money came from the state’s emergency fiscal stability fund. That fund is normally used for road salt.
Meeks said the new process would not affect actual election results. “It is a parallel system for feelings,” she said. “The law has no place for them, so we made a place.”
In Ohio’s 7th District, some candidates declined the new process. Brian Poindexter, a union ironworker, said he was actually on the ballot. “I’m not asking people to pretend. I’m asking them to vote,” he said.
Poindexter is challenging a former presidential aide who voted for military action in Iran six times. He said his campaign was built on a different promise. “I don’t care one bit if you’re a Republican. I’m going to fight for you because you’re an American,” he said.
