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Green candidate gets spot on ballot
YOUNGSTOWN
A Green Party candidate for Mahoning County commissioner who was disqualified earlier this month is back on the ballot.
Howard Markert of Youngstown, who owns a rental-property renovation business, is the only Green Party candidate running for the office, which is being vacated next year by Democrat John McNally IV.
The elections board Thursday certified that Markert had 31 valid signatures on his petition, more than the 25 valid signatures needed, based on the recommendation of director Thomas P. McCabe.
Third parties need only half the number of signatures required by Republican and Democratic candidates for county seats under state law. Only registered Green Party members or those without a political party affiliation could have signed Markert’s petitions, McCabe said.
McCabe said originally the elections workers only found 23 signatures to be valid. After a another check, however, workers found an additional valid signatures.
The seven other additional valid signatures were those of registered voters who cast a ballot in 2008 but not in 2010 and were therefore not affiliated with a political party, the director said.
Workers initially looked at the 2008 election rather than 2010, because when board workers looked up voter signatures, the 2008 party affiliation automatically came up, McCabe said.
McCabe attributed the mistake to a “miscommunication” between him and board employees and said “fortunately, it was caught.”
The board unanimously approved placing Markert on the ballot.
“We always try to be more lenient than less with candidates,” said board member George D. Beelen.
With that in mind, the board maintained its decision to disqualify Democrat Frank Bellamy of Youngstown. With Bellamy out, eight Democratic candidates are running in the party’s primary for the commissioner seat. David V. Rossi of Boardman is the only Republican in the race.
Bellamy was disqualified because he miscounted the number of signatures on five of the eight nominating petitions he submitted — counting only signatures he believed to be in cursive script.
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. “His contention was that only cursive was called a signature, but a person’s name could be written in print if he has a printed signature on file,” Monroe said.
Monroe said he spoke to Bellamy and invited him to attend the Thursday meeting. Bellamy, who had requested in writing that the board re-evaluate its decision to disqualify him, was not present.
Bellamy’s next option is to take his case to court, McCabe said.
In October, the 7th District Court of Appeals refused to overturn the board’s decision to disqualify the candidacy of Louis Chine Jr., who was running for Austintown Board of Education. The board disqualified Chine for the same reason it disqualified Bellamy.