God got one. So did Jay Leno, Bill O'Reilly and just about all the popular Disney characters.

Those are just a few of the names that received write-in votes by Riverside County residents in last week's statewide primary election.

God received a vote in the Republican race for lieutenant governor. However, at that same Riverside polling place, there were no write-in votes for governor, so whomever cast the vote for God must believe the good Lord should be second-in-command under the Republican candidate.

Leno was a write-in for the race of state superintendent of public instruction. Could that possibly have anything to do with his poking fun at teachers during his "Jay Walking" segments on The Tonight Show?

A random check of many of the 927 voting precincts in the county turned up some other write-in oddities.

Like the Perris polling place where the same machine logged write-ins for Disney characters -- ranging from Snow White to Goofy to Daisy Duck -- in 10 separate races. The voter appeared to have run out of Disney names after casting Cinderella since Batman, Robin and Pancho Villa followed.

The most popular write-in votes belong to Disney characters, with Mickey Mouse leading the way. Walt Disney himself even received at least one vote, that for state attorney general.

Some of the non-Disney votes included Bugs Bunny, Pooka Bear, Snoopy and real people such as Wesley Snipes and Gladys Knight.

Although Assistant District Attorney Rod Pacheco ran unopposed for Riverside County district attorney, there were 437 write-in ballots, less that half a percentage point of the votes cast in that race.

Write-in votes cast in that race included some current district attorney employees such as prosecutor Deena Bennett, who was a contestant on "Survivor," a downtown Riverside judge and Grover Trask, who is retiring after decades as district attorney.

Bill O'Reilly was a write-in for district attorney, as was George Bush and Riverside County Supervisor Bob Buster.

Defense attorney David Gunn even received a vote, something he laughed about when he was told of it.

"I'm surprised I didn't win," Gunn said with a laugh Tuesday at Southwest Justice Center in French Valley.

Gunn, who was a Riverside County prosecutor in the 1980s, said he was surprised by the vote and has no idea who may have written in his name -- "somebody with a bizarre sense of humor," Gunn said.

Pacheco said he wasn't at all bothered by the write-in votes.

"I heard that a friend wrote me in for governor," the former state assemblyman said. "I appreciate her confidence."

Pacheco said he believes a very small percentage of the voters just want to have more than one person to vote for.

Rebecca Martine, chief deputy at the registrar of voters, said write-in votes are often "a protest against those on the ballot."

Martine said officials typically see the same names, such as the Disney characters, at most elections.

Since this was a primary election, voters registered under a particular party had to stay within party lines when voting. Martine said there was some confusion among voters, which typically happens in primary elections.

For example, there were a number of votes by Democrats who wrote in Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor. When his name was found as a write in, it was often misspelled. Those votes don't count, which is also the case for just about all write-in votes.

To qualify as a write-in, a candidate must have already filled out the same paperwork as those listed on a ballot, Martine said. However, qualified write-in candidates don't have to pay a filing fee and they don't get a written statement in the voter's pamphlet, she said.

So, even though there are a lot of T-shirts out there, as well as the movie "Napoleon Dynamite," telling people to "Vote for Pedro," the vote Pedro did receive at a Riverside polling place last week for United States senator didn't count.

Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.