Sunday, January 11, 2004
Three liquor options were also removed from the ballot.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The race to replace Mahoning County Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock got less crowded today as the board of elections disqualified a candidate.
The board unanimously voted to remove the name of Alden B. Chevlen of Boardman, who was running as a Democrat, from the March 2 primary for having an insufficient number of signatures on his nominating petitions.
Chevlen, an attorney and former head of the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp., said the board saved him the trouble of withdrawing from the race, which he probably would have done next week.
"It was a last-minute thought" to run for commissioner, Chevlen said today.
Chevlen said he obtained nominating petitions from the elections board last Friday, the filing deadline, after hearing a day earlier that Sherlock wasn't going to run for re-election.
"I wasn't prepared to do it on such short notice," he said. The elections board "probably saved me the embarrassment. I was idealistic like a college kid. I wouldn't have had a chance against the real politicians."
Disqualified signatures
Chevlen submitted nominating petitions with 58 signatures; 50 valid signatures are needed to get on the ballot. But the board ruled that eight of Chevlen's signatures came from people not registered to vote and four people printed, instead of signing, their names. With those 12 names disqualified, Chevlen fell four short of the needed 50 valid signatures.
With Chevlen off the ballot, that leaves four Democrats running for the seat Sherlock currently holds. They are Timothy E. Batton of Canfield, Anthony Traficanti of Poland, Austintown Trustee David Ditzler, and William E. Flickinger of Youngstown. Republican Sam Moffie of Boardman is running unopposed for his party's nomination for the seat.
Chevlen was the only candidate who turned in nominating petitions by last week's deadline to be disqualified. All others were certified for the ballot today by the elections board.
Tuesday is the deadline for protests against other candidates' nominating petitions to be filed with the elections board.
Liquor options thrown out
The elections board also disqualified today three liquor options that were to be in front of voters March 2. All were removed for insufficient valid signatures.
Disqualified were two options for Chudda Bing Taste Buds on Starr Centre Drive in Canfield, one for the sale of intoxicating liquors and the other for Sunday sales; and one for Countryside Drive Thru on North Meridian Road in Austintown for Sunday sales.
The elections board approved a contract with Youngstown Lithograph, a Youngstown company, to print its absentee ballots for the primary and general election at a cost of $1.32 per ballot.
The elections board is expected to receive requests for about 10,000 to 15,000 absentee ballots for the primary and about 15,000 to 20,000 for the general election, said Michael Sciortino, its director.
skolnick@vindy.com