Aey asks federal court to act on ballot issue
YOUNGSTOWN — David P. Aey has filed a motion in federal court for a temporary restraining order barring the Mahoning County Board of Elections from removing his name from the March 4 Democratic primary ballot as a candidate for sheriff.
Aey and his lawyer, Martin E. Yavorcik, filed the motion this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Youngstown in response to Thursday’s Ohio Supreme Court decision that ordered the board to remove Aey’s name from the ballot. The federal case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge David Dowd in Akron.
If the Ohio Supreme Court ruling stands, Sheriff Randall Wellington will be unopposed for re-election in the Democratic primary. He has no Republican opposition. The independent candidate filing deadline is March 3; and the filing deadline for write-in candidates is Sept. 3.
The state supreme court granted a request from Wellington to have Aey removed from the ballot on the grounds that Aey lacked the two years of supervisory law enforcement experience at the rank of corporal or above, which state law requires of candidates for sheriff.
In his federal court filing, Aey maintains that the state law that sets forth the qualifications to run for sheriff violates the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
For more, see Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com