Wednesday, November 7, 2001
New voting locations
YOUNGSTOWN -- The elimination of 25 percent of the voting precincts in Mahoning County, which required thousands of people to vote in new locations, did not cause many problems, said Michael V. Sciortino, elections board director. The county board sent two mailers to every registered voter telling them about their new voting precincts. There were a handful of people who called the board of elections Tuesday with questions, and they were sent to the correct voting locations, Sciortino said.
Sealing criminal record
CANFIELD -- Councilman-elect Sam Boak Jr. has filed an application in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to seal his criminal record. Boak, 45, of 167 Colonial Drive, pleaded guilty in federal court in 1993 to one count of attempting to evade taxes, a felony. He filed the application on Election Day.
State law prohibits convicted felons from holding office unless they receive a pardon or have their records sealed and expunged. Boak was one of two candidates running for two seats on council. The application states that Boak's record should be sealed and expunged because it is his first conviction, three years have passed since he fulfilled the terms of his sentence and he has not been convicted of a crime since 1993.
Shedding light on votes
ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. -- Voters in the southern portion of Lawrence County voted like pioneers for an hour -- by candlelight. A power outage knocked out electricity at 5:30 p.m. forcing residents in the Ellwood City area to fill in the ovals on their paper ballots by candlelight.