One Clue to the Upset in Alabama: 22,800 Write-In Votes (NYT)

By Alan Blinder and Trip Gabriel
Dec. 13, 2017

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — As supporters of Roy S. Moore on Wednesday sifted the results of his stunning loss in Alabama, one number jumped out: About 22,800 write-in votes were cast, more than the gap separating Mr. Moore, the scandal-plagued Republican, from the victorious Doug Jones, the first Democratic senator elected in the state in a quarter-century.

Many of the votes are thought to have been cast by Republicans displeased by Mr. Moore but unwilling to cross party lines, and who wanted to register a protest.

“I would bet strongly it was good Republican voters who couldn’t stomach voting for Roy Moore, but didn’t want to stay home,’’ said Brent Buchanan, a Republican strategist in Alabama. “It was a protest vote.’’
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Because the number of write-in votes appears to exceed the margin of victory, an Alabama law that requires that the names of write-in candidates be officially tallied is likely to be triggered. Mr. Merrill will determine whether the counting requirement applies by noon on Monday.
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Nicholas Franklin, 28, a cyber security specialist in Madison County, said he wrote in the name of a local librarian because he thought Mr. Jones was too liberal, and because he disliked Mr. Moore, who was effectively removed twice from the State Supreme Court, even before the accusations of sexual misconduct.
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more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/13/us/alabama-senate-jones-moore-writeins.html?_r=0




So not all the write-ins were for Nick Saban.

And as new DUer kwalter66 noted, there were no other candidates or issues on the ballots in most precincts, so lots of people went to the polls only to cast a protest vote.