Aey’s ability to run in question

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David Aey

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — David P. Aey filed a form to place himself on the Nov. 4 ballot as a write-in candidate for Mahoning County sheriff, but his eligibility remains a question.

An eligible candidate for county sheriff must have at least two years of supervisory experience as a peace officer at the rank of corporal or above, or at least two years of post-secondary education from an accredited college or university.

Aey of Boardman, a former deputy sheriff, had neither when the Ohio Supreme Court disqualified him as a Democratic candidate for sheriff a few weeks before the March 4 primary.

After filing the write-in form Tuesday with the elections board, Aey said he had 66 credit hours of post-secondary education from two universities and a community college. The credit hours would be enough to satisfy the education requirement.

Aey, however, failed to provide any documentation to the elections board when he filed as a write-in.

That could be a problem, said Thomas McCabe, elections board director.

“That should be included in the file” of information Aey filed with the board. “It’s an incomplete filing. If he fails to file the education part by [today, the write-in deadline], it’s up to the board to decide if [his filing] meets the requirement. It’s really odd.”

Aey said he received the 66 credit hours during the past six months.

Aey said he earned:

U 15 hours for classes taken at Youngstown State University.

U 33 hours at Jefferson Community College in Steubenville; 16 credit hours earned for classes taken this summer and 17 hours for “lifeskills,” primarily the classes he took years ago at the Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy.

U 18 hours from Kaplan University, an online for-profit accredited university based in Davenport, Iowa.

Along with the information Aey filed with the elections board to run in the Democratic primary was an associate degree diploma from Belford University, an unaccredited online school that states on its Web site that a person can obtain a doctorate degree in seven days for $549.

Despite including the Belford degree in his packet for the primary, Aey insisted it wasn’t supposed to satisfy the educational requirement.

The county elections board will meet in about a week to determine if Aey is eligible for the ballot, McCabe said.

Regardless of the decision, McCabe expects a lawsuit to follow.

Sheriff Randall Wellington of Youngstown said he’s going to scrutinize Aey’s academic qualifications. He also questions Aey’s eligibility to run as a write-in and plans a legal challenge if Aey is certified by the elections board.

An October 2007 Ohio Supreme Court decision permits disqualified candidates for county and local seats, such as Aey, to run as write-ins for the same position, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. It was only a year ago that someone in a similar situation would have been ruled ineligible to run as a write-in.

“The Secretary of State has made it clear I meet the criteria to run as a write-in candidate,” Aey said.

Aey acknowledged it’s going to be “an uphill battle” for him to win as a write-in. “But I think it’s obtainable.”

About 132,000 Mahoning County residents voted in the November 2004 election. The number of voters this November is expected to be more than in 2004, McCabe said.

Also because of no-fault absentee voting, those voting before the Nov. 4 election should be between 35,000 and 50,000, McCabe said. The most absentee voters for an election was about 18,000 in November 2004, he added.

skolnick@vindy.com