Batman Received Write-In Votes For President

During this year’s presidential election, Arkansas gave its go-ahead to the Republican [...]

During this year's presidential election, Arkansas gave its go-ahead to the Republican candidate, but it seems like a few voters would have rather seen the Dark Knight nab those electoral votes. The U.S. allows eligible voters to write-in names on ballots, and more than 1,200 voters in Osceola County chose to give their votes to candidates like Mickey Mouse and Batman.

According to the Osceola News-Gazette, the county accrued more than 1,000 write-in votes for pop culture icons. The paper spoke with Amber Smith, the community relations coordinator for the country's election office, and she said the trend is an on-going one.

"When I go to speak to the students at the high schools during our voter registration drives I always bring this topic up," she explained. "I have noticed a trend, that a lot of times the write in names mirror those of whatever movie is popular."

In the past, Smith noted that Johnny Depp and Captain Jack Sparrow became popular write-in choices after Pirates of the Caribbean premiered. Since 2008, more and more superheroes have also been added to ballot because of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Smith said those characters were missing this year. Well, except for Batman.

"We usually have a wider range of super heroes. This year we only had Batman. In year's past, Captain America and Iron Man were favorites," Smith said. "I was surprised that none of the Star Wars characters made the list this year. And our close proximity to Walt Disney World means there are always votes for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. This year, we saw some new Disney characters make the list, such as Goofy and Pluto."

Other pop culture icons and celebrities made it onto the write-in list for Osceola County this election. Rapper Kanye West got a vote as well as former Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. Some religious folks also indicated their desire for divine intervention by writing in Jesus, God, and The Pope on their ballots.

While writing names onto ballots has become a trendy option this year, election officials do want to stress that write-in candidates cannot be officially elected without doing a few things. The citizens must file paperwork to be considered a true candidate. But, before they do that, they must gather a certain number of petitions and pay the filing free for whichever position they're hoping to fill. If these requirements are not met, then the write-in candidate will not be considered a true contender for their respective position.

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Let's face it though: Batman would get a hefty number of votes should the vigilante ever run for office. If the fictional character could, you know. Bruce Wayne has more than enough money and experience with defending Earth. And, on top of that, he'd bring some nice alliances with Wonder Woman and Aquaman's peers.

Eh, it's nice to dream, right?

[H/T] Osceola News-Gazette

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