CAMPBELL Write-in candidates can't run in primary

One such candidate is seeking reinstatement as a mayoral candidate.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
CAMPBELL -- After some uncertainty and a lot of debate, two write-in candidates will have to wait until the November general election to run for Campbell elected positions.
Thomas McCabe, Mahoning County Board of Elections deputy director, said he received an opinion Tuesday from the county prosecutor's office that echoed similar opinions from the Campbell law director and the Ohio Secretary of State's office.
"There will be no write-in candidates in the Campbell primary," McCabe said.
McCabe made that decision last week but revisited the issue after an objection by F. Anthony Fontes, a write-in council president candidate.
The other write-in candidate -- Tula Ellinos-Delphry for 4th Ward council -- never complained to election board officials or employees about the decision.
Fontes and Ellinos-Delphry couldn't be reached Tuesday to comment.
Fontes "brought up some points, and we wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. But the opinions we received said he can't be on the primary ballot," McCabe said.
Tuesday primary
The city primary runoff is Tuesday, with three mayoral candidates and a city tax levy on the ballot.
The city charter says the top two finishers in each race move to the November general election.
Only the mayoral race attracted more than two candidates. Three candidates will run for the seat with the top two finishers put on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
The city charter requires more than two candidates to be on the ballot during the primary before a write-in can run in that race, said city Law Director Brian J. Macala.
Votes for Fontes for council president and Ellinos-Delphry for 4th Ward on absentee ballots for the primary won't be counted, McCabe said. The elections board will put a sticker over those two races on future absentee ballots mailed to Campbell voters, he said.
Fontes' fight
After losing that fight, Fontes also is arguing that he should be a Campbell mayoral candidate, McCabe said.
The board denied a request July 18 from Fontes to return his name to the mayoral race.
He circulated petitions for that job but was disqualified because the date on his statement of candidacy on his nominating petitions was later than the days his petitions were circulated.
Board members told Fontes on July 18 that the problem is a "fatal flaw," and he couldn't be reinstated.
Fontes then filed as a write-in candidate for mayor and later withdrew that candidacy to run as a write-in for council president.
The Campbell charter doesn't mention that the correct date must be on the nominating petitions of candidates for elected positions. Fontes said that means he should have never been disqualified as a mayoral candidate, McCabe said.
McCabe and Macala say when the city charter is silent on an issue, such as this, state law takes effect. The state requires a statement of candidacy to be earlier than the days petitions are circulated, they said.
Also, McCabe said Fontes should have made that argument at the July meeting, and his time to protest the board's decision has since passed.
As with the write-in situation, McCabe said he'll wait for a final decision, expected shortly, from the prosecutor's office on this issue.
skolnick@vindy.com