Thursday, November 06, 2003

By Paula Reed Ward, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Attorney Tim Finn got only seven votes for Beaver County district attorney on Tuesday -- 10 if you count the ones that had his name spelled incorrectly.

But he's happy with that number.

"That means I've trounced people like Ben Dover, Joe Schmo, Joe Mama, Humpty Dumpty and both Mr. and Mrs. Mouse," Finn said.

Sure, he almost won the position in 1995, when, with thousands of votes cast, he lost by just 55.

But this year, he feels better about his loss to incumbent District Attorney Dale Fouse, who ran unopposed and got 34,146 votes.

"This year's was considerably less expensive," he said.

Finn was one of 114 people whose names were written in for district attorney in Beaver County on Election Day, with dozens more write-ins for other positions on the ballot.

The county election board there, in listing results, includes on its Web site each write-in candidate's name -- thanks to a computerized system that allows voters to type in their write-in candidates' names.

This year, some of the names that made it onto the ballot included the regulars like Mickey Mouse and Michael Jackson. But economist Karl Marx and even the well-loved cartoon favorite, SpongeBob SquarePants, each got a vote for Common Pleas Court judge.

"People who do write-in candidates -- they either think it's a joke and they'll nominate Mickey Mouse, or they'll do it because they're disgusted with the status quo," said Jon Hurwitz, professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh.

Perhaps that's why one voter wrote in "Ben Dover."

In the United States, there have always been provisions for write-in candidates, Hurwitz said, though it's not a common occurrence.

"Until the two-party system evolved, it was essentially a system where people would write in candidates," he said.

Now, the chance of a write-in candidate winning is slim.

"It's virtually impossible for people to get elected as a write-in," he said.

Donald Grubb and his wife, Phyllis, of North Sewickley Township, knew they wouldn't earn enough votes to make it to the state Superior Court -- or any other office -- but they tried.

They also wanted to see if "Coco Dawn Grubb," could win.

"She runs regularly for office," Donald Grubb said of their German shepherd-Labrador retriever mix.

Coco and Phyllis Grubb got the most votes in the family this year -- they received votes for Superior Court judge, clerk of courts, prothonotary, county treasurer and North Sewickley Township auditor-at-large.

Grubb and his wife typically write in their choices when they don't know enough about the candidates running for office.

"I happen to believe that if the person that's running doesn't make themselves known to the public, they don't deserve to win," he said. "It could possibly be our fault, but I don't assume that."

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