My initial question, how do you turn 96 signatures into 48 (two shy of the requirements to get on the ballot in the OH-06, one of the most competitive races in the country right now)?
From Roll Call:
The Columbiana County Board of Elections will meet this afternoon to certify the nominating petitions of candidates who have filed to run in the May 2 party primaries, but the board's top official said this afternoon that Wilson, the party's hand-picked successor to Rep. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio), does not have enough valid signatures to be certified.
"I don't believe the board will certify Mr. Wilson's petition today," John Payne, the county's election board director, told The Associated Press. Payne, a Democrat, is seeking to replace Wilson in the state Legislature
The Youngstown Vindicator, citing unnamed Democratic and Republican sources, reported Wednesday that Wilson had only 48 valid signatures on the nominating petitions he submitted last week -- two short of the required 50 valid signatures from registered voters in the district.
This whole thing reminds me way too much of the ballots with the incorrect weight of paper from the 2006 cycle, not in the least because Ted Strickland is vacating this seat to run for Governor against the one, the only, J. Kenneth Blackwell.
And here is why:
The dispute over Wilson's petitions began last week, in the hours leading up to the passing of Ohio's filing deadline at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Wilson originally filed 96 signatures, all of them from residents of Belmont and Scioto counties, both of which are split between two Congressional districts. Of that total, 43 were deemed invalid because they were from residents who live outside the 6th district boundaries.
Of the 53 remaining signatures, five were believed to have been thrown out because they did not meet the standards set by state election law, according to the Youngstown newspaper.
Before the filing deadline last week, Wilson initially tried to refile a second set of petitions. After consulting with the Ohio Secretary of State's office, Columbiana County elections officials said they could not accept those, because candidates are prohibited by state law from refiling after they have filed once.
Well, this seems like a doggedly rigid reading of the rules that runs quite contrary to its intent, which is to prevent people from filing for multiple races.
In any case, if this isn't fixed, we will in all liklihood lose this seat. It is considered one of the best pick-up opportunities for the GOP in a year where such opportunities are slim.
It always sorta boggles my mind when people leave these sorts of things to chance. Didn't Wilson THINK of this? Doesn't he have someone checking the zip codes and street addresses? I want more details....anyone from Ohio care to fill me in on more than was already included in this juicy article? The real question I have, was there a similar type of effort to the one Democrats made against Nader in several states to keep him off the ballot or force him to spend his money on court costs?