Mahoning elections board moving to take Aey’s name off the ballot

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Board of Elections is taking immediate steps to comply with today’s Ohio Supreme Court ruling disqualifying David P. Aey from the March 4 Democratic primary ballot as a candidate for sheriff.

“We’re going to go ahead and remove David Aey’s name from the ballot. We’re going to reprogram our [voting] machines,” said Tom McCabe, board of elections director.

However, Aey’s name is on paper absentee ballots. Absentee balloting began last Friday and continues through March 3. Any absentee votes for Aey will not be counted, McCabe said.

The board won’t reprint absentee ballots, he said. Rather, beginning today, it will include a note with them saying votes for Aey won’t be counted, he said.

Election day paper ballots, which haven’t been printed yet, won’t bear Aey’s name, McCabe said. Voters appearing at polling places on election day may request a paper ballot instead of using a voting machine.

The Ohio secretary of state’s office has ordered that paper ballots sufficient to accommodate 10 percent of the expected voter turnout be printed, but Mahoning County will print 20 percent, McCabe said.

McCabe predicts a 65 percent turnout, including absentee voters, because of the presidential race with no incumbent running for re-election.

Sheriff Randall A. Wellington will be unopposed in the Democratic primary. There are no Republican candidates. The deadline for independent candidates to file for the Nov. 4 general election is March 3. Independent candidates need at least 953 valid petition signatures. The filing deadline for write-in candidates is Sept. 3. Write-in candidates don’t need to file signatures.

Wellington said he has heard names of potential independent candidates mentioned, but hasn’t heard of any circulating petitions or taking other steps toward filing.

As for the board of elections decision to keep Aey on the ballot after its Jan. 18 hearing on the issue, McCabe said: “Our board has always erred on the side of allowing a candidate’s name on the ballot and letting the voters decide.”

Although people who served under Aey on the violent crimes task force testified at the hearing that Aey met the supervisory requirements to run for sheriff, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld Wellington’s protest that Aey didn’t meet the state legal minimum of two years at the rank of corporal or above in law enforcement in the five years prior to the Jan. 4 primary filing deadline.

The high court decision also disqualifies Aey as an independent candidate for sheriff this year, McCabe said.