The Federal Election Commission has announced a procedure that its staff will follow to verify "unlawfully false or fictitious" names that have been entered as candidates.
The FEC said the new procedures are because of an increase in the addition of apparently false names as candidates. The commission noted a rise in registration forms that include "patently false candidate or treasurer names, questionable contact or bank information, or material that does not relate to campaign finance, such as drawings, essays and personal court records."
In one instance, a fake candidate named Deez Nuts polled at almost 10 percent of voters in a North Carolina poll in 2015.
The FEC said it has authorized staffers to send letters to verify registration forms that list "fictional characters, obscene language, celebrities (where there is no indication that the named celebrity submitted the filing), animals, or similarly implausible entries."
The letters will notify the filer of the form about potential penalties for "false filings with a federal agency." The letter will direct the filer to "confirm or withdraw" the registration. It said that if the filer does not withdraw the filing, or if the filer does not respond to the letter, the registration will be removed from the candidate database.
The FEC said that removing a filing from its database does not waive the FEC's right to pursue further action against the person who made the false filing.
The Daily Beast reported that Deez Nuts was a name filed by 15-year-old Brady Olson.
Olson said in the Daily Beast report that he got the idea to run after reading about Limberbutt McCubbins, a cat who had apparently filed to run for president. The cat belonged to high school senior Emilee McCubbins and was entered into the race as a joke, according to NPR.
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