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2 won’t be on primary ballot
YOUNGSTOWN
Two candidates who filed to run for an open Mahoning County commissioner seat won’t be on the ballot.
The Mahoning County Board of Elections on Wednesday disqualified Democrat Frank Bellamy, and Howard Markert, the only Green Party candidate running for the seat. Both are from Youngstown.
Bellamy was disqualified because he miscounted the number of signatures on five of the eight nominating petitions he submitted last week to be on the Democratic primary ballot. Markert didn’t have enough valid signatures with four of them not counting because those voters live in Trumbull County.
Regarding Bellamy’s disqualification, Mark Munroe, the board’s vice chairman said the number of signatures on petitions must be the same number written on the bottom of the document’s rear side in the circulator’s affidavit section.
“The law is very clear,” Munroe said. “It’s a fatal error.”
Bellamy was off by one signature on two of the petitions, off by two signatures on two others, and off by four on another.
Bellamy had 41 valid signatures on the three petitions accepted by the board. He needed 50 valid signatures to qualify for the Democratic primary.
When told by The Vindicator that the board disqualified him, Bellamy said, “If that’s their decision, I have no reason to challenge it. What can I do? I don’t fight the government.”
Bellamy called the board’s decision “a blessing in disguise” as he was considering withdrawing from the race in preparation for a local radio show he’ll be hosting starting Jan. 2.
Bellamy unsuccessfully ran for Youngstown clerk of courts last year and for city mayor in 2009.
With Bellamy out, that leaves eight Democratic candidates in the party’s primary for the commissioner seat being vacated next year by Democrat John McNally IV.
David V. Rossi of Boardman is the only Republican seeking to succeed McNally.
Markert needed 25 valid signatures to qualify as the Green Party’s candidate for the commissioner position. Third parties, such as the Greens, need only half the number of signatures required by Republican and Democratic candidates for county seats under state law.
Markert turned in two petitions with 40 total signatures. Only 23 were considered valid by the board.
Four of the 17 invalid signatures came from residents of Trumbull County.
The rest of the invalid signatures came from people who aren’t registered to vote, printed rather than signed their name, or are members of the Democratic or Republican parties.
Only registered Green Party members or those without a political party affiliation could have signed Markert’s petitions, Munroe said.