ORLANDO, Fla. — Joe Biden may have earned enough electoral college votes to become president-elect, and Donald Trump may have won more votes in Florida. But numerous celebrities, cartoon characters, and unqualified candidates won the hearts of some Sunshine State voters on Election Day.

A review of “write in” ballot responses found hundreds of votes cast for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, musician Kanye West, and Mickey Mouse, among others. 

Voters cast unqualified votes for Mickey Mouse 391 times in the Orange County property appraiser race and another 555 times in the Orange County sheriff race.

Election supervisors in Osceola, Orange, Marion, Polk, Volusia, and Flagler counties provided write-in records in response to a Spectrum News 13 request.

West and Sanders, a former Democratic presidential candidate, earned the majority of overall write-in votes of the records provided. 

“God,” “Jesus,” and “Mickey Mouse” were also frequently listed, as were former republican secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. 

Some voters opted to write in local figures for president, including attorney John Morgan, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, and Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood.

These write-in candidates are not “illegal” votes, but because the individuals are not qualified for the race, the votes for them do not count. 

Collectively, voters cast thousands of votes for unqualified individuals, celebrities, and fictional characters, although they make up just a fraction of the more than 11 million total votes cast statewide.

There were several hundred unqualified votes cast in Osceola County, where Biden earned 97,297 votes and Trump received 73,480.

Likewise, voters in Orange County cast 576 unqualified write-in votes in the presidential race. Voters cast 395,014 votes for Biden and 245,398 for Trump. In Volusia, there were at least 607 unqualified write-in votes cast. Voters cast 130,575 votes for Biden and 173,821 for Trump. 

“Some voters write in fictional characters or celebrities when they feel it is their civic duty to vote but do not like the candidates running for a particular office,” said Dr. Aubrey Jewett, associated professor of political science at University of Central Florida. “Rather than not voting or just skipping that particular contest, they write in a name. While some may feel this is a wasted vote, if a voter does not like the two candidates listed and would otherwise skip the race, there is no impact on who wins or loses the race by writing in a different name.”

A review of thousands of collective write-in names revealed a considerable number of “Anyone Else,” “None of the Above,” or undercounts, which means the voter did not cast a vote in the presidential race but did vote in other races on the ballot.

There were also hundreds of write-in votes for variations of “God” and “Jesus.”

“Voters who do not like the candidates might write in Jesus or God as their way of signifying their dislike for the political process and their support for religious values and traditions,” Jewett said. “Disney characters are particularly popular as write-in candidates in Central Florida because of Walt Disney World’s larger impact on our region. This may indicate dissatisfaction with the candidates on the ballot and a sense of humor or whimsy by the voter.”

2020 Florida Write-In Candidates for President

Here is a list of names found in our review of unqualified write in ballots: