WriteInTrumpForGA Isn't Possible

Drew Fossen

Politics

1st December 2020

There is no place to write in a candidate during a runoff election (Getty Images).

The Claim

You can write in Donald Trump for the Georgia senate.

News posted on

John Fugelsang

Black... but make it 90’s

Lrosy

Minnesota CFO

Laszlo Lebrun

Emerging story

On November 24, 2020, an image encouraging citizens of Georgia to write-in Donald Trump for Georgia Senate began to circulate on social media. Alongside the image, the hashtag #WriteInTrumpForGA was used and quickly went viral. This hashtag was used in more than 23,000 tweets that day.

Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar’s investigation found this claim to be misleading. This is likely part of a strategy by the Democrats to win the two remaining Senate seats in Georgia. By suggesting that Republicans write-in Trump rather than vote for the actual candidates on the ballot, they are hoping to create confusion and stop people from voting for the Republican candidates.

One reason this #WriteInTrumpForGA strategy might not work is the fact that there is no place to write-in a candidate during a runoff election. When people cast their votes in the Georgia Senate runoff, they will find that each race only has two options, with no place for a write-in. Then they will either have to decide to vote for one of the two candidates or decide not to vote entirely.

Some people are even pushing the idea that if Trump wins a Senate seat in Georgia, it could lead to his presidential re-election. This is completely untrue.

According to Jordan Fuchs, Georgia’s deputy secretary of state, “Our voters are definitely going through some kind of emotional abuse right now. There’s not even an option to write in a candidate.”

The two Georgia Senate runoff elections are set to take place on January 5th and will determine control of the Senate. Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are running against Democratic challengers Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.