I learned a couple things about write-in votes Friday, as the Senate Government Operations Committee heard from Secretary of State Deb Markowitz.

Because I've spent a few election nights with my stomach churning over whether we'll get the results in time to put in the newspaper, you won't catch me using the write-in method of voting lightly. Those pesky write-in votes are laborious to count on election night and I want to do nothing that will delay the tallying process.

Markowitz said she learned the same thing when she became immersed in elections. In her naive youth, she used to write in her husband's name if she didn't know who else to vote for. No more, though. She knows how laborious it is to count those write-ins.

They don't even bother counting all those clever votes for Mickey Mouse - only the ones for real people. If your name really is Mickey Mouse and you're launching a write-in campaign in Vermont you might want to alert the authorities.

Still, Burlington elections director Jo LaMarche told the committee the city had something like 1,200 write-ins on Election Day. "It created a very long night," she said.

Even if you don't have pity for the poor election worker, have pity for yourself. Until they've counted all the votes, you don't get to know who won the election.

Markowitz said her office will soon have a proposal for legislators about write-ins that involves requiring write-in candidates to register with the Secretary of State's Office just before the election.

Does that kill the serendipity of write-in campaigns, stifle the voters, squeeze out the little guys and gals who have a last-minute surge? What, then, is the answer?

- Terri Hallenbeck