MAHONING COUNTY Elections panel erred on candidate
Only legal action can remove the candidate from the ballot.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County Board of Elections officials admit they erred when they permitted a Youngstown woman who filed as a Democratic candidate for city council to withdraw and run on the Republican ticket for the same post.
But they say there is nothing they can do about it.
All this doesn't sit too well with Clarence Boles, the Democratic nominee for the 6th Ward seat.
His only recourse is to file a lawsuit that would seek the removal of JoAnn Collier, his Republican opponent and the candidate in question, from the ballot; her disqualification should she beat him in the November general election.
Boles said he may decide as soon as Monday to file a lawsuit.
"I've always been prepared to run the race," he said. "Historically, Republicans haven't done well in this city, but I don't want to be the first Democrat to go down in flames. I'll run against anyone as long as the playing field is level. The playing field isn't level in this case."
What happened
Collier, who couldn't be reached Wednesday to comment, filed to run as a Democrat for the 6th Ward seat Jan. 21. Raymond Butler, an elections board employee, wrote Collier a letter Feb. 10 telling her that there were "several critical errors" with her petitions that would "inevitably cause disqualification."
Butler's letter gave Collier several options for running for public office, but wrote that state law did not permit her to "refile as a party candidate in this election cycle for the same office."
Collier decided to withdraw as a Democrat on Feb. 10 after meeting with Mahoning Republican officials, and refiled Feb. 20 for the seat as a Republican.
Mahoning election officials changed their minds about Collier's eligibility as a Republican after having a conversation with Pat Wolfe, the Ohio Secretary of State's director of elections.
Taking responsibility
"What's upsetting is we were correct in our initial interpretation," said Michael Sciortino, Mahoning elections board director.
"But we take responsibility for what happened. We want to give candidates the benefit of the doubt, so we checked this with the secretary of state. There apparently was a communication mix-up."
Carlo LoParo, secretary of state spokesman, said the mistake with Collier's candidacy didn't come from incorrect information provided by Wolfe.
"Our communications to the Mahoning County Board of Elections have been consistent throughout the process," he said.
State law doesn't permit the removal of Collier this late in the election cycle, LoParo said. The only option for Boles is to take the matter to court, LoParo said.
"The board dropped the ball on this," Boles said.
"She should never have been offered petitions to run" as a Republican.
skolnick@vindy.com