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The list of write-in candidates in NYC’s mayoral election is hilarious

Written by
Clayton Guse
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The New York City Board of Elections released the certified results from this month’s general municipal election on Tuesday, and it came with a full breakdown of how each borough voted. Aside from officially confirming that the city had one of its lowest voter turnouts in modern history in the election, the results detail another delightful side effect of democracy: write-in votes. 

There were a total 5,343 write-in votes in the mayoral race, accounting for roughly 0.5 percent of the ballots cast. Among those candidates were usual suspects like former Mayor Michael Bloomberg with 957 votes (the most among anyone who was not listed on the ballot), Hillary Clinton with 238 votes and former President Barack Obama with 44 votes. President Donald Trump also garnered 22 write-in votes (split up evenly between those who wrote in “Donald J. Trump” and “Donald Trump”).

But there’s a long list of cheeky write-in candidates that surfaced on the BOE’s list. Knicks player Kristaps Porzingis scored 11 votes (split among three different spellings of his name). Beyoncé garnered five votes from New Yorkers. Barbara Streisand got a vote, as did Broad City star Ilana Glazer. Heck, the fictional Jon Snow from Game of Thrones even got a tally (he is a very honorable man).

Arguably the most entertaining name on the list, though, is Howdy Doody, a famous TV puppet from the 1940s and 1950s. We suppose if you’re going to throw away your vote at the ballot box, you might as well honor a perturbing era of American pop culture in the process. 

You can find the full list of results here.

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