Several politicians, deceased musicians and fictional characters also received votes in the election.
Bobcats’ senses of humor showed Wednesday in the write-in results for this year’s Ohio University Student Senate election.
Though the UNITE and Impact tickets contained the only candidates actively running for Student Senate seats, many politicians, musicians and fictional characters also received votes.
Bernie Sanders received at least one vote for eight separate positions, including president, but was defeated in the presidential category by fellow write-in “Max the Dog,” who received more than double the votes Sanders garnered.
As the most popular write-in, Max the Dog received seven votes for president, five for senator at-large and four for treasurer, SAC at-large senator and SAC uFUND senator.
“I think Bernie’s had a lot of trouble really making his message stand out to people who are really feeling done with two-party politics since he’s running as a Democrat, but I think Max is a really viable alternative because he’s not even running as a human,” Daniel Kington, a sophomore studying English, former Post columnist and Max supporter, said.
Though unknown to many students, this is not Max’s first quest for a senate executive seat.
When former Student Senate President Nick Southall resigned in 2013 after being arrested for disorderly intoxication, then-Vice President Anna Morton stepped in to fill his seat. Max the Dog campaigned for senate’s vacant vice president position on a platform that promised “a longer leash, a bigger cage, a nicer master for every student.”
“I really am just inspired by (Max’s) message,” Kington said. “I think it’s especially relevant as McDavis is about to resign. We’re going to get a new university president, we’d like to see a little bit of a nicer master and a bigger cage for students. He has all the right ideas I think.”
Current senate members prefer students to not joke around with voting, but said the write-in ballots are amusing.
"There were pages of (write-ins) last year after the election," Student Senate President Gabby Bacha said in an email. "I would like for the voters to take the core seriously, however it's all in good fun."
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Other more well-known figures such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and even Ohio University President Roderick McDavis claimed another chunk of write-in votes.
Ballots cast for the late musician Jimi Hendrix and philosophers Thomas Hobbes and Karl Marx were also present in the election results.
Beyond the political figures, the four-legged legends and a lone vote for Kanye West, creative write-ins continued with a few brief phrases.
“None of these peeps,” “No one seems qualified” and several obscenities also received votes.
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With droves of moms descending on OU’s campus this weekend to participate in the final family weekend of the semester, it is worth noting that “My Mom” also received a vote for senator at-large.
@mayganbeeler
