Patrick Lee, of Ashland, is one of 23 Missourians wanting voters to write in their names for federal, statewide or state offices on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
Lee filed July 19 as a write-in candidate for the U.S. Senate - the race dominated by Democrat Jason Kander and incumbent Republican Roy Blunt.
He's one of six candidates seeking write-in votes for that race.
This past Friday was the deadline for people to declare their candidacies as write-ins.
State law authorizes election officials to count write-in names only for candidates "who have filed a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate for election to office with the proper election authority."
The law also prohibits someone from becoming a write-in candidate if they already have been on the ballot for that race in the same year, saying no one can be a write-in candidate for an office they've filed for as a party or independent candidate, unless they first withdraw that previous filing.
Also, the law says: "No candidate who files for nomination to an office and is not nominated at a primary election may file a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate for the same office at the general election."
For years, election officials had to count all write-ins, including numerous votes for "Mickey Mouse," "Donald Duck" and other cartoon or make-believe characters.
State election laws were modified in the 1970s to eliminate counting those extraneous write-in names and to only require the counting of those candidates who were serious about wanting to be counted in the election.
Now, the law requires a declaration with the secretary of state or with the local election officials, no later than 5 p.m. "on the second Friday immediately preceding the election day."
The secretary of state must notify all of the affected local election officials of the filed write-ins, and then, the local officials must notify their election judges and counters that write-in votes are possible.
Kander spokeswoman Stephanie Fleming said the secretary of state's notices to the local officials would be made Monday.
In Lee's case (and the other five U.S. Senate write-ins), the secretary of state must tell all election officials of his write-in candidacy.
Those candidates who filed with Secretary of State Jason Kander included:
U.S. president/vice president
Marshall Schoenke, James Creighton Mitchell Jr.
Tom Hoefling, Steve Schulin
Laurence Kotlikoff, Edward Leamer
Evan McMullin, Nathan Johnson
U.S. Senate
Gina Bufe
Patrick Lee
Thomas Morgan
Steven Wallace
Nathaniel (Nate) Malone
Jon Kelly
U.S. Congress
District 3 (includes part of Mid-Missouri) - Harold Davis
District 7 (Southwest Missouri) - Amber Thomsen
Governor
Dave Altis
Theo Brown Sr.
Martin Lindstedt
Lieutenant governor
Jake Wilburn
State treasurer
Arnie C. AC Dienoff
State senator
District 15 (St. Louis County) - Richard Magee
State representative
District 110 (St. Louis, Franklin and Jefferson counties) - Tim Nagy