MARIETTA - Seven candidates on the ballot and six official write-ins still didn't provide enough choices for president for some area residents.
Neither did reality, as a cartoon character, movie politician and cereal mascot also made the list.
Even if they were real, most of the names written in for president and vice president did not count because they hadn't filed the required declaration of intent to be a write-in with the Ohio Secretary of State's office, said Washington County Board of Elections Deputy Director Tara Hupp.
But while Disney characters and Jesus Christ have received write-ins in the past, Hupp said most of this year's crop were actual political figures.
"Most are not as quirky as we've had in the past," she said.
One wasn't even that specific.
"I think we had one that put down 'anybody honest,'" Hupp said.
The most frequently written-in candidate here was Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who sought the Republican nomination for president and has won a number of loyal followers over the years with his message of limited government and strict adherence to the Constitution. As a write-in, he was sometimes paired with running mates including current Vice President Joe Biden, Constitution Party candidate Virgil Goode and Paul's son, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Marietta resident Carol Pabst, 60, didn't write in Paul's name, but only because she found someone who stood for the same values he did while watching a debate of third-party candidates hosted by Larry King.
"I would have written his name in if it hadn't been (for) watching that debate and seeing that Gary Johnson, who Ron Paul did back, had the same beliefs," she said.
If the Libertarian Johnson, who received 55 votes according to unofficial totals in Washington County, hadn't been on the ballot, Pabst said she would have had no problem writing in Paul, even though the vote wouldn't have been officially counted.
"I'm tired of voting for the (lesser) of two evils," she said. "The country is not headed in the right direction."
The unofficial results for Washington County tallied 97 write-in votes, more than the total received by Goode and Socialist Party candidate Stewart Alexander combined. But Hupp said none were for the half-dozen official write-in candidates who actually filed declarations of intent.
Former President Bill Clinton was a hit at the Democratic National Convention and on the campaign trail for President Obama, and some local voters indicated they'd like to see him back in the White House, at least in some capacity. Clinton received write-in votes in Washington County as the running mate for his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and one-time potential Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The Clintons were also written in on a ballot in Monroe County, said Molly Landefeld, deputy director of that county's board of elections. Other Monroe County write-ins were from well outside the political spectrum.
"Oh, we had a Goofy I believe," Landefeld said. "We had Jesus and Pedro."
The latter running mate is an apparent reference to the character in the film "Napoleon Dynamite" who runs for student body president with the campaign slogan "Vote for me and all your wildest dreams will come true."
There was a familiar name written in on some Noble County ballots, said Michelle Larrick, director of the board of elections.
"Ted Nugent gets a lot of votes in Noble County," she laughed, noting the musician and gun-rights activist has also been written in for sheriff and other offices before.
Noble County had only 19 write-in votes for president, Larrick said. Most of the others were for residents of the county.
There weren't many write-ins in Morgan County either, but deputy board of elections director Charney Fitz said there was one pairing of an actual politician with a rather animated running mate.
"The only unusual write-in that we had was Joe Biden running with his partner, Cap'n Crunch," she said.
