TAMPA, Fla. — Write-in candidates – sometimes referred to as ‘ghost candidates’ — are having a significant effect on Florida elections, limiting who can vote in primaries that would otherwise be open to all voters. 

What You Need To Know

  • So-called 'ghost candidates' are closing primaries to certain voters with little effort 

  • It's a technique that is legal in Florida through a loophole in the law

  • Both parties employ it

  • Integrity Florida has found numerous examples of it during this election cycle 

It's a legal campaign strategy employed by both Democrats and Republicans in Florida but has been called “anti-democracy” by Ben Wilcox, researcher director at Integrity Florida. Wilcox studied the issue extensively.

“Voters are being disenfranchised,” Wilcox said. “In this election cycle in Florida, it’s like we’re infested with ghost candidates.”

Here's how it works:

Normally, Democrats pick a candidate during a Democratic primary and Republicans choose a candidate during a Republican primary. Then the two winners of the primary face each other a few months later in a general election.

However, if one of those political parties does not run a single candidate for a race, state law dictates that the other party’s primary should be open to all voters (Democrats, Republicans, and Independents). The idea is everyone should have a say since this is their only choice.

“The state constitution really requires that it be an open primary if you don’t have anybody else running against you from another party,” said Joe McClash, former Manatee County Commissioner and current publisher of The Bradenton Times. “That was really the intent.”

Except there’s a loophole.

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If someone declares themselves a ‘write-in candidate’ in that race – a process that does not require paying any money nor gathering any signatures – the primary goes back to being closed (only voters from that political party). It might be beneficial for a serious candidate who believes their odds of winning an election are better if only people from their political party vote to recruit a ‘write-in candidate’ to run.

That write-in candidate, often dubbed a ‘ghost candidate,’ only needs to fill out paperwork. They usually make no effort to campaign, don’t attempt to raise money and are not interested in winning.

“The fact that they don’t even campaign, the voter doesn’t even know how to write in that name,” said Wilcox. “They really serve no purpose. They never win an election.”

But they can have a dramatic impact on election results.

“It takes away people’s voice in who their eventual representative will be,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox pinpointed dozens of examples of ghost candidates during this election cycle – both Democrats and Republicans – including multiple examples from the Bay area.

He recommends state lawmakers close the loophole to ban the practice but doesn’t think they will since both sides like to employ the strategy when beneficial.