Will your write-in vote really count in Texas?

With polls showing a record number of American dissatisfied with the major candidates in the presidential race, you might be tempted to write in a name that's not on the ballot.

Maybe yours. Or maybe that of some other perennial write-in favorites, like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck or Jesus.

But if you do, you should know that in Texas, as in most states, it really won't count unless whoever you vote for is a declared and registered write-in candidate.

That's right. It seems counter-intuitive - or just wrong, maybe - but in Texas you can't simply write in somebody's name and assume it will count as a real vote.

Not unless whoever you're voting for has declared they are running as a write-in candidate, registered with the state, and filled out information about themselves, their running mate (yes, they have to have a running mate),AND the 38 Texans who have agreed to be their electors.

And none of you can have voted in any primary.

Oh, and all that paperwork must be filed by August 22nd. That's Monday, so you don't have much time.

If you are able to meet all those requirements, your name still won't actually be on the ballot (or ballot screen), but it would be on a piece of paper above the voting machine in the voting booth.

If you wanted your name to actually appear on the ballot, you had to meet a different set of requirements by May 9th. More about those in a minute - including a lawsuit just filed over them.

But back to write-in voting.

IT'S THE LAW

"We are only allowed by law to count the declared write-ins." Bexar County Elections Administrator Jaque Callanen told me.

So theoretically, if you got 99 percent of the vote and were not filed as a declared write-in candidate, all those votes would not be counted so you would not win the election.

And by state law, it's not just in the presidential race, but in any race. Texas law also lays out requirements to be a declared write-in candidate for any number of races.

They all require the signatures of at least two percent of the total number of votes in that race during the last election - OR - you could pay a fee, depending on which office you're running for.

The fees range from $375 for County Constable or Justice of the Peace in smaller counties - to $3,750 if you want to run for a spot on the Texas Supreme Court or Railroad Commission.

WRITE-INS ONLY POSSIBLE IN SOME RACES

And it's not even physically possible to write in a name if nobody has filed to be a write-in candidate in that race, so don't even try.

Somebody has to have filed as a write-in candidate before elections officials can even list the words 'Write-in' on the ballot.

If you click that, it opens up a 'kwerty' keyboard for you to type in whatever you want.

In some cases, people have voted for 'Your Mother,' or Willie Nelson. In the last presidential race in Travis County Jesus just edged out Hillary Clinton with 31 votes to her 30.

But then both lost to another write-in who hadn't declared, Ron Paul.

If you're wondering why a handful of states count undeclared write-ins and others don't, Jaque Callanen has the answer.

"Bottom line is elections are state's rights. Yes, we have the federal government. We have the constitution which states that the November election is on the first Tuesday after the first Monday. That part's set in stone. But all the other rules are states' rights."

In other words, complain to state lawmakers if you don't like it.

Of course it's understandable that there are some limits on the number of names on the ballot.

Many people believe Texas has too many races on the ballot now, that there's no way most people can really keep up with who they're voting for in all the separate jurisdictions, especially in all the judicial races.

For example can you name the District Judges you have voted into office? Justices of the Peace? Court of Criminal Appeals? Texas Supreme Court?

And if we faced one or two dozen names listed in just one race and with three dozen or so races on the ballot, it could take so long for some of us to vote that we would be standing in line for days.

WHAT DOES IT MATTER?

Then there's the idea that write-in voting is a largely symbolic thing, a kind of protest vote, so what does it really matter?

Nobody expects that Mickey Mouse or Goofy could actually win and take office.

And we could only pray that Jesus or 'Somebody Better' might be willing to take the job if they get the most votes.

But in this election, the constraints on write-in voting just might mean more.

First, for those who want to see their protest vote show up in the final tabulation.

If you vote for, oh let's just say 'Randy Beamer' and Randy Beamer's name shows up nowhere in the state's official tally, somebody might be upset.

WRITE-IN SPOILERS?

Then there's the real possibility that all those write-in protest votes make a difference in the election, especially this year.

Just think for a moment 'What if?...'

What if between a record number of write-ins for undeclared candidates and a record number of voters not even checking a box in the presidential race, that it ends up too close to call between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in Texas?

Or what if that's the case in some other state with similar write-in laws.

There could be - again, theoretically - a recount. And claims of a rigged election.

And at the state level in Texas they don't even keep track of those undeclared write-in candidate votes, so they would have to go back to each of the counties... all 254 of them.

"It's one of our nightmares," Callanen says. "I mean years ago we had a recount with Henry Cuellar's district and that took three weeks, I mean it was just unreal because it was multiple counties that had to put their's together and so I could only imagine what it would be if it was a state-wide one."

Of course it might also be a logistical nightmare to make sure that we could vote for anyone we wanted to in every race in every election and make sure whoever gets a vote is qualified to hold that office. Or would want to.

SUING TEXAS OVER BALLOT RULES

Now back to the requirements to get your name actually on the ballot in Texas.

The filing deadline for that was the first in the nation, May 9th, long before the major party nominating conventions decided it would be Donald Trump versus Hillary Clinton.

You also would have had to collect nearly 80,000 signatures or gone through a party's nominating process.

Evan McMullin thinks that's unfair so he plans to sue the state of Texas.

McMullin is the ex-CIA agent and congressional policy guy who is running as an independent alternative to Donald Trump.

He's on the ballot in his home state of Utah, where he was able to meet a much later filing deadline and a much less stringent requirement of 1,000 signatures.

And some experts believe it's possible he'll win Utah outright.

But he's missed the deadlines for many states, including California's, which was last Friday, with a requirement of nearly 180,000 signatures.

McMullin may file lawsuits against California and other states, as well as Texas.

So what do you think? Have you ever cast a write-in vote? Do you want to this year?

And do you think write-in candidates should have to formally register and have a running mate and 38 electors for the presidential race?

Let us know what you think on our facebook page, News 4SA. That's https://www.facebook.com/News4SA