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LISBON -- Four non-partisan candidates and one local liquor option failed to make the cut for placement on the Nov. 7 general election ballot after their petitions were invalidated for errors.
The Columbiana County Board of Elections made the petition decisions during a meeting Wednesday afternoon when they also certified 104 nonpartisan candidates and 11 local liquor options for the fall ballot.
Candidates removed from the list of fall candidates included: Jim Tsilimos, who was one of two candidates running for two full-term slots on the Lisbon school board; Elizabeth Weston, who was one of three candidates running for two slots on the Southern Local school board; Andrew Frischkorn, who was one of three candidates for Yellow Creek Township trustee; and David Moore, who had been the only candidate running for Rogers village council, which has two council slots available, along with mayor, and no candidates now for any of the openings.
Board Director Kim Fusco explained that Moore and Frischkorn both failed to secure enough valid signatures on their petitions. Moore needed 10, but only secured eight. Frischkorn needed 25 and only had 15.
In the case of Tsilimos and Weston, both failed to fill out the nominating petition section on their petitions, which is required. Leaving the nominating petition section blank is grounds to invalidate a petition, according to what county Assistant Prosecutor Krista Peddicord told Fusco and Deputy Director Bryce Minor in an email.
The Salem Slovak Club local option for Sunday sales in the Salem 2A precinct was rejected due to a lack of valid signatures. The required number of valid signatures was 50. The petition only had 44 valid signatures.
For a complete list of the candidates for fall, check the county election board website at columbiana.boe.ohio.gov.
Fusco also advised that the deadline for write-in candidates for the November election falls at 4 p.m. Aug. 28, with seven write-in candidates already filed. Minor noted that candidates whose petitions were thrown out can't file as write-in candidates.
In business related to the Aug. 8 special election, the board accepted 166 eligible provisional ballots to be included in the official tally that will be done next week. There will be 41 additional absentee ballots added to the total, too, that came in the mail with the proper postmark. The board is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 23 to certify the official election results.
The board rejected 40 ineligible provisional ballots for a variety of reasons with 21 for voters not registered, 10 wrong precinct/wrong polling location, five registration cancelled/not eligible, one for no signature, one for invalid ID and two for previously cast ballots.
Fusco explained what happened with the two previously cast ballots, asking board members if they wanted the cases referred to the prosecutor, while also indicating she didn't believe it was done maliciously by the voters. In one case, Minor said the voter cast a ballot at the office on July 11, then went on Election Day and tried to vote. In the other case, the ballot had been put through the machine at the polling location and indicated it was blank, then the voter was given a provisional ballot. Only one ballot for each voter was counted.
Board member Vic Maroscher asked what had been done in the past, but Fusco said this was the first incident that she knew about. Board members indicated no need to launch an investigation.
The board rejected eight absentee ballots, with four received too late, with no postmark or late postmark, two with no ID envelope completed and two that were undeliverable.
Board member Larry Bowersock asked about the number of voters in the wrong precinct. None were from multiple precinct polling locations. Minor said it's up to the poll workers to direct a voter to the correct location. He said it's always brought up during training.
Also discussed were two candidate petitions that were not thrown out, that were approved, with one due to a name change for the candidate, who filed a notice of the name change for voter registration with her paperwork, and another with an address on the petition different than the address on the voter registration. The addresses in question were both in the same jurisdiction. A review by the prosecutor's office indicated the board may validate both petitions if there's no indication for fraud, which there was not.
Both Fusco and Minor expressed their appreciation and pride for their staff for working on two elections at once, with the early voting and special election at the same time as the filing of petitions for the fall election.
"They've done a really good job. That's a lot of work without hardly any mistakes," Fusco said.
Board members jumped in, too, praising the staff. Minor again thanked the poll workers.
Near the end of the meeting, board Vice Chair Patty Colian asked if a sign could be posted on doors of polling places regarding no political attire allowed. She had gotten some complaints. Fusco said they already have signs and poll workers tell the voter to turn their shirt inside out or cover it with a coat. Colian asked that the issue be reiterated during poll worker training.