A Closer Look at Morrisville Election Write-in Votes
Morrisville, NC – Like we did with the Cary 2019 election, we’re going to take a closer look at the write-in votes in this year’s Morrisville municipal election.
Who Got Written In?
All information on past election results in Wake County is available online, including tallies of all write-in votes.
With two competitive races in the 2019 Morrisville election, there were very few write-in votes in these races. In the race between incumbent Council Member Michael Schlink and Anne Robotti, which Robotti won, there were only six write-in votes.
Of these write-in votes, two were left blank, two were for Mickey Mouse, one was for current President Donald Trump and one was for Richard Bain, possibly referring to the Durham surgeon.
In the three-way race for the vacant District 2 seat, between Kristen Richardson, Matt Joseph and Donan Fender, which Fender won, there was only one write-in vote, which went to Zeeshan Haque, possibly referring to an employee by the same name at nearby IQVIA.
Like with most elections, competitive races see far fewer write-in votes. In the District 3 race, where Council Member Liz Johnson ran unopposed, there were 62 write-in votes.
Several of these write-in votes were for other candidates on the ballot in other races. For example, District 2 candidate Matt Joseph and current Council Member At-Large Satish Garimella each received two votes. Other write-in responses with a significant number of entries are former Morrisville mayor Mark Stohlman, five votes left blank and nine votes for Ty Elliott, a local business public speaker.
In election for Garimella’s At-Large seat, there were 153 write-in votes. Once again, there were many write-in votes for candidates in other races.
- Three votes for Kristen Richardson (also, one voter who just wrote in “Richardson”)
- Five votes for Matt Jospeh
- One vote for Michael Schlink
- One vote for Steve Rao, a current At-Large Council Member not up for election
Other write-in votes included 21 votes for Brian Foxx, likely referring to the Blue Cross software engineer, 13 votes left blank, seven votes for Steve Lauderdale, five votes for Mickey Mouse, four votes for Stohlman and four votes for Jennifer Breva, the spokesperson for a group of Morrisville residents pushing for a new middle school.
CaryCitizen does not take a stance on elections or endorse candidates but we encourage everyone who is able to go out to vote and make their voice heard.
Story by staff reports. Photos by Keith Ivey and Vox Efx.
