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More than 36,000 Wisconsin voters cast write-in ballots for president this year, surpassing the number in every presidential election since write-ins were first recorded in 1976 — combined.

The 36,460 write-in votes dwarf previous elections, according to state election data. In 2012 there were 5,370. In 2008 there were 6,521, the previous record. Between 1976 and 2004 there were 15,328 write-ins total, according to the Wisconsin Blue Book.

The vast majority of the write-ins this year, about 26,000, were votes for candidates who didn't register with the state before the election and therefore won't be counted. A 2014 law requires potential write-in candidates to be registered for the votes to count. For example, votes for Mickey Mouse or Bernie Sanders were not counted.

Sen. Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, chairman of the Senate Committee on Elections and Local Government, said the huge number "may have something to do with the unfavorability rating of both candidates at the top." Both Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton had historically bad favorable ratings in state and national polling.