Ford won't be on the ballot

Ford won’t be on the ballot

By Ed Richter | Thursday, August 20, 2009, 11:48 AM

The 2nd Ward race will have one fewer candidate in November Incumbent 2nd Ward Councilwoman Leslie Ford apparently won’t be on the Nov. 3 ballot as the petitions she filed did not have enough valid signatures.

When Ford went to the Butler County Board of Elections, she told the clerk that she wanted to file her petitions and paid her $45 filing fee. But she was unaware that she had to specifically ask to have her petitions pre-checked to make sure the signatures on the ballot were valid before filing the petitions.

Because of Ford’s assumption, the clerk collected the filing fee and petitions. A short time later, the clerk came back and told Ford that out of 76 signatures, 62 were of registered voters. Of the 62 signatures, only 35 of those signatures were valid while 27 were not because their addresses did not match their voter registration cards.

To run for a seat on Middletown City Council, a minimum of 50 signatures are required.

In an email sent today to Betty McGary, Butler County elections director, Ford said she does not contest the fact that she said that she wanted to file her petitions. However, she is contesting the fact that she was unaware that the signatures would not be pre-checked first and given the opportunity to get more signatures if necessary.

In her email, Ford said if the Ohio Revised Code permits someone to vote who had changed their address before an election and only has to show proof of that move, the same logic should apply in this case.

“I am also concerned that African American voters signatures were invalidated in an area that is in desperate need of representation,” Ford said in her email.

When contacted by The Journal, McGary said once a candidate turns over their petitions and pays the filing fee, the petitions become the property of the Board of Elections and cannot be returned. She said candidates can check signatures online through its Web site as well as a public computer in the lobby at the elections board office.

McGary said state law prohibits the altering or amending of petitions after they are filed with the elections board.