Board of elections counting petition signatures

A charter-amendment proposal that would reduce the number of wards in the city from seven to five will be on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Even so, city officials are having the Mahoning County Board of Elections determine the validity of the signatures of about 1,700 people who signed petitions that were part of an effort to get the measure in front of voters.

For a charter amendment to get on the ballot, at least 1,216 signatures on petitions need to be valid.

However, votes taken Tuesday by council automatically put the proposal on the ballot regardless of the number of valid signatures.

Mayor John A. McNally said Wednesday that he asked the county board to count the signatures anyway.

“If you have 1,700 residents sign petitions, you want to verify the petitions and show you met the [minimum] number,” McNally said. “It shows it’s what voters want.”

For the complete story, please see Thursday's Vindicator.