Youngstown redistricting petitions surpass averages

YOUNGSTOWN

While it didn’t matter how many valid signatures were on petitions to get an issue to cut the number of wards in the city on the ballot, more than enough were collected.

City council approved legislation Tuesday that automatically put the proposed charter amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot to reduce the city’s seven wards to five.

But Mayor John A. McNally asked the Mahoning County Board of Elections to count the signatures on the petitions collected by a group for the charter amendment. He said, “It shows it’s what voters want.”

The group that organized the effort, now called Committee for Responsible Redistricting, collected 1,647 signatures, with 1,387 of them deemed valid Friday by the board of elections. The group needed at least 1,216.

Of all the signatures collected, 84.2 percent were valid — which elections officials noted is higher than normal.

For example, the anti-fracking charter amendment that will be on the Nov. 4 ballot for the fourth consecutive time had 70.3 percent of its signatures deemed valid.

“We were careful and very diligent,” said Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th.

Read more about the effort in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.