The election for the Alabama U.S. Senate seat has drawn much controversy for the two front- runners, Democratic nominee Doug Jones and Republican nominee Roy Moore. With the election on Dec. 12, many are still unsure which candidate they will elect to fill the position currently being held by Sen. Luther Strange. With only two candidates listed on the ballot, voters have the option to write-in a qualified candidate.  

Want to cast a write-in vote on Dec. 12 for a candidate not listed on the ballot? 

Write in his or her name in the blank write-in box at top of the ballot. It is immediately under the boxes for Doug Jones and Roy Moore. 

For your vote to count: 

You must shade in the circle next to left of the “write-in” box.  

For your vote to count: 

Name of your candidate needs to be spelled correctly.  Minor misspellings won’t disqualify the vote, but it has to be close enough that the full last name is understandable. Be safe and get it right.   Best to list first name and middle name or initials for same. 

Do not use stamps or stickers: 

Votes must be handwritten. 

Anyone I cannot vote for? 

It must be for a person qualified to hold office. 

What about people who lost earlier for same race? 

You can write in the name of any qualified candidate. Alabama’s “sore loser” law prohibits a candidate that lost in the primary from running as an independent, which would provide for their name being printed on the ballot. There’s nothing to keep any qualified candidate from running a write-in campaign or someone casting their ballot for whomever they choose. 

When will we know the total of write-in votes? 

Alabama law stipulates that write-in votes for a particular contest are not counted unless the total number of write-in votes is greater than the difference in the number of votes received by the first place and second place candidates. If that takes place, write-in votes are counted on the seventh day after the election. If the number of write-ins doesn’t meet that requirement, they are not counted.