There is a curious discrepancy regarding the Colorado ballot. Recently, we took note of a story circulating about independent candidate Evan McMullin’s Jewish running mate, Mindy Finn.
Imagine our confusion then, when Colorado ballots started hitting mailboxes and listed as Evan McMullin’s running mate was not Finn, but Nathan Johnson. We started wondering: Is the Jewish media getting this wrong? If Coloradans cast a vote for McMullin will it be disqualified?
A short conversation with Rina Shah of the McMullin campaign has cleared up all confusion. The gist is that if you chose to vote for McMullin, have no fear, your vote will be counted.
Essentially, says Shah, Johnson, described as a “close dear friend” of McMullin’s, is a placeholder. When McMullin filed his paperwork on Aug. 8 — quite late in the game — the name of a running mate was required and Johnson stepped up. He has no intention, however, of serving as vice president. If McMullin were to be elected — an eventuality that hinges on an unlikely trajectory of events that would have him winning Utah (or at least one state), neither of the two major candidates winning a majority of electoral votes and the House of Representatives voting McMullin in as president — Johnson plans to step aside, and Finn, who is presented by the campaign as McMullin’s running mate, will serve as vice president.
It’s certainly unusual, but perhaps not surprising considering the, in Shah’s words, “unconventional nature of the campaign.”
Because McMullin only appears on 11 state ballots, there’s a good chance that JPost, the Forward and other Jewish media reporting on Finn didn’t even realize she wasn’t on the ballot. For those excited by the prospect of a female Jewish vice president, know that a vote for the McMullin/Johnson ticket is a vote for Finn. Voters who want McMullin but are not in one of the 11 states where McMullin appears on the ballot must write him in.
