Official says elections errors are rare

The state's top election official says it's important to learn from mistakes.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The incorrect advice given by the Columbiana County Board of Elections director to a would-be congressional candidate is an isolated case, said J. Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio secretary of state.
"The reality is mistakes are made," Blackwell said Wednesday.
But "tens of thousands" of correct decisions by elections board employees statewide go largely unnoticed, Blackwell said.
In this case, John Payne, Columbiana elections director, told the campaign of Charles A. Wilson Jr., considered the Democratic front-runner in the 6th Congressional District primary, that there were problems with his nominating petitions.
When the campaign asked for advice, Payne said he told them to submit a letter asking that the first set of petitions be withdrawn and be replaced by a second set. That was done, but it violates state election law.
Law changes
The state Legislature passed a law in late 2002 that eliminated that option, with Wilson voting in favor of the law. The secretary of state sent an advisory in February 2003 to elections boards, but Payne said he doesn't remember it.
"Election officials [in the Wilson case] weren't as well informed as they should have been," Blackwell said. "They erred on the side of ballot access. It was a mistake and they corrected the situation. I'm not going to label them by one bad decision when they've made thousands of good ones."
Because Wilson's petitions were disqualified Wednesday for failing to have 50 valid signatures from eligible voters, the error made by Payne won't affect the race.
Thomas McCabe, Mahoning County Board of Elections director, said Payne is probably the only election board director out of 88 in Ohio who isn't aware the law changed more than three years ago.
"Not to disparage John Payne, but everyone in the state knows you can't withdraw petitions after they've been filed," he said. "That's very basic and well-known. We've made mistakes in the past and all counties do that, but this is basic."
Columbiana County GOP Chairman Jerry J. Ward, chair of the county's elections board, said the board's staff is well-trained and Payne's error is unusual.
"Everybody makes mistakes," Ward said.
In town
Blackwell, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, was in Youngstown Wednesday to preside over the swearing in of election board members in six counties -- including Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana -- and for a political fund-raiser.
Blackwell told the election board members that mistakes will be made, but it's important to learn from them.
"We'll have wrinkles and bumps, but we have the professional capacity to learn, respond and fix problems," he said.
Candidate's responsibility
Also, Blackwell said election board officials and employees do their best to give the correct advice, when needed, to those running for office. But the ultimate responsibility for knowing the rules rests with the candidates, he said.
McCabe and Kelly Pallante, his counterpart in Trumbull County, said they provide written instructions developed by the secretary of state's office and by their local offices to each candidate.
The instructions are self-explanatory, but election board employees are available to candidates with further questions, Pallante said.
"Also, the secretary of state's office is only a phone call away," she said. "If we're not sure, we call them."
Pallante and McCabe said they and their employees attend statewide conferences to receive training and information about election laws. The two also said they meet with employees to discuss election laws and changes.
skolnick@vindy.com