Unofficial Election Mascot, a Dog Named Ballot, Endorses No One, Naps Through Forum

MAPLE COUNTY — The most popular figure of the election season is not on any ballot. Ballot, a 4-year-old golden retriever who serves as the unofficial mascot of the county elections office, has endorsed no one, attended every candidate forum, and slept through all of them.

Ballot — named by office staff in 2023 after he wandered into the annex during early voting and fell asleep on a stack of sample ballots — holds the honorary title of Director of Voter Comfort. His duties include greeting nervous first-time voters, absorbing stress through strategic leaning, and posing for the office’s social media, where his I Voted bandana photo received 2,400 likes.

He has a gift, said elections clerk Maria Santos, Ballot’s primary handler. People come in anxious about the machines, the lines, the choices, and then there’s Ballot, asleep under the check-in table, snoring like a tiny chainsaw, and suddenly everything feels manageable. She then produced a lint roller, which she carries at all times.

Ballot’s forum attendance is a tradition now. He arrives on leash, circles three times, and sleeps in the front row, occasionally waking to accept a treat from a candidate, an act the elections office stresses constitutes no endorsement. All four Soil and Water Conservation District candidates have given Ballot treats. His neutrality, officials say, is absolute.

The dog’s fame has created minor complications. Voters have requested Ballot-themed I Voted stickers, which the Sticker Design Board tabled for 2027. A write-in campaign — Ballot for County Dogcatcher — gathered 40 signatures before the elections office gently explained the position was eliminated in 1987. Ballot himself was unavailable for comment, being asleep.

His schedule is managed with the seriousness of a head of state: morning walk, office hours 9 to 3, forum duty as needed, and a strict 7 p.m. bedtime. His veterinarian reports excellent health, ideal weight, and what she called an enviable blood pressure. His favorite treat is cheese cubes, which the snack table audit confirmed were served with toothpicks and remain above suspicion.

On Election Day, Ballot will work the courthouse polling place, where a line of voters is expected to request selfies. Santos asks that voters keep the line moving, keep treats to the approved cheese cubes, and remember that while Ballot loves democracy, he loves naps slightly more.

The elections office has no plans to retire its mascot. As Director Voss put it: every election needs something everybody agrees on. This year, that thing is a sleeping golden retriever named Ballot. She then scratched his ears, and he sighed in his sleep, which the office has adopted as its official position.