With early voting now underway for the November presidential election, election officials and local candidates want everybody to know that it's legal and perfectly normal to "split your vote" on the ballot - and there will be a list of write-in candidates on the ballot, too.

"It's okay to split your vote in the General Election," said Judge Jim Burton, Wilkes County's Supervisor of Elections. "You have to choose parties only in the primary."

Therefore, each voter's ballot will have all the names, Democratic and Republican, and voters may vote for the whole party, or vote for each candidate, no matter which party. The ballot will also have candidates from third parties and write-ins.

"You can vote for a Democrat for President and a Republican for Wilkes County Sheriff," Judge Burton said, "or a Republican for president and a Democrat for Sheriff. You can flip-flop back and forth voting for Republican or Democrat, whichever you want, all the way down the ballot. It's legal, and it's pretty common."

Also on this year's General Election ballot, there will be nine writein candidates for U.S. President, three for Vice President, and two for U.S. Senate.

Write-in candidates for President include Jonathan Allen, Chuck Baldwin, Brian Russell Brown, David C. Byrne, James Harris, Cynthia McKinney, Frank Moore, Ralph Nader, and Michael A. Peroutka. Write-in candidates for Vice President include Rosa Clemente, Alyson Kennedy, and Jeff Stath. Eleanor Garcia and William Salomone Jr. are write-in candidates for a Georgia Senate seat.