Voting in primary locks some off ballot

WARREN — Three men who sought help from the 11th District Court of Appeals in their fight to get on the ballot this year have been turned away.

They had sought to run as independent candidates for mayor of Girard and Hubbard and for a seat on Niles City Council.

Myron Esposito of Girard, Timothy O’Hara of Hubbard and David Wilkerson of Niles filed a writ of mandamus action in early August challenging the decision of the Trumbull County Board of Elections. The board had disqualified the three.

The elections board said the three could not run as independents because they had voted in the partisan primary in May.

The board’s decision came July 10, about a month after it received an advisory on the matter from Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. The advisory said a candidate voting in the primary election after filing as an independent renders his or her claim of independence. The advisory was based on a federal appeals court decision from last year.

The appeals court sided Thursday with the elections board, which asked for the writ to be dismissed.

J. Terrence Dull, who filed the action on behalf of the three, said the decision has left the men disappointed that they won’t be on the ballot this November. He didn’t know whether the men would want to pursue the matter further, for instance with the Ohio Supreme Court, he said.

Main complaint

The main complaint of the three was that they were given bad information from the local elections board, Dull said.

Trumbull elections officials admit they advised candidates that it was OK to run as an independent after voting in the partisan primary. They said that has been past practice, and they only learned anything contrary to that from Brunner after the May primary was over.

Brunner, who visited the Trumbull elections board Wednesday, said the delay in notifying elections boards was because of the confusing transition between the former secretary of state, Kenneth Blackwell, and her administration at the start of the year.

Eight independent candidates for Youngstown City Council were also ruled ineligible by Mahoning County elections officials after the advisory was given.