YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Board of Elections voted to disqualify seven candidates who filed for the Nov. 2 general election, but plans to reinstate one of them.

The board voted 4-0 Friday not to certify the seven candidates and a liquor option and approved the rest of the candidates and issues filing by last week’s deadline.

Four candidates were not certified because they did not have enough valid signatures to qualify and three failed to fill out the nominating petition section before collecting signatures, board Director Joyce Kale-Pesta said.

Also, a Sunday liquor option for Bruno Brothers at 8381 Market St. was rejected for having only 79 valid signatures when it needed at least 117.

“I love people that want to run for office,” board Vice Chairman David Betras said. “It’s wonderful. We make it easy to run. If they can’t get over that bar, I don’t know what to say.”

Those not certified for failing to get enough valid signatures were:

• Jessica Walker-Rosario for Youngstown school board, who needed 150 valid signatures and had 123;

• Tyrone Peakes II for Youngstown school board, who needed 150 valid and had 137;

• Patrick Bokesch for Austintown school board, who needed 25 valid and had 24;

• Kathryn F. Young for Canfield mayor, who needed 50 valid and had 48.

But after the meeting, Danielle O’Neill, a board employee who handles petitions, said just before calling Young to say she wasn’t certified, she checked Young’s petitions again and found two more valid ones to get her to the needed 50 signatures.

At the board’s next meeting, Sept. 7, its members will vote to reinstate Young, O’Neill said.

Those disqualified for not filling out the nominating section of the petitions before collecting signatures, considered an automatic disqualification, were Joshua Auden for Craig Beach Village Council, Jonathan A. Jamison for Jackson Township trustee and Paul B. Hugenberg for Boardman Township trustee.

BETRAS CRITICIZES TRUMP

Toward the end of the meeting, Betras, a former county Democratic Party chairman, said he found it “personally disgusting” that former President Donald Trump has made unsubstantiated claims of a stolen election through fraud and irregularities.

“It’s an attack on free and fair elections,” Betras said. “It’s disgusting that there are claims of widespread election fraud and a large base of the Republican Party believes there was something wrong with the election.”

Betras said the unfounded criticism is making several Trump supporters question the integrity of elections, which is wrong.

“To suggest that there’s fraud here is ludicrous,” he said.

Mark Munroe, the board’s chairman and former county Republican Party chairman, said Ohio election officials can speak only about this state’s integrity and can’t “vouch for the other 49 states.”

He said there were some irregularities in last year’s election in other states.

“That’s one of the reasons that people are concerned with things that went wrong,” Munroe said.

Betras responded, “I don’t think things went wrong.”