Board of Elections tables vote on judicial candidate's petitions
7/12/2011The Lucas County Board of Elections tabled a vote on certifying a Toledo Municipal Court candidate to the ballot Tuesday to settle a dispute over whether he was allowed to re-file his candidacy to make up for insufficient signatures.
Democrat John Coble re-filed his candidacy June 13 after petitions submitted May 23 were found to be three signatures short.
Mr. Coble, an Ottawa Hills lawyer, is seeking to run against incumbent Republican Robert Christiansen.
Elections board member Jon Stainbrook, who was attending his first meeting, asked that the nominating petition be tabled until the board could get a ruling from the Ohio Secretary of State.
Previous advice from the Secretary of State’s office appears to allow Mr. Coble to withdraw as a candidate and then re-file as a candidate for the same office in the same election.
However, a protest filed by a supporter of Judge Christiansen said Ohio law expressly prohibits a candidate from filing more than one set of petitions to run for office.
Mr. Stainbrook, the chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party, was appointed to the board after former member Ben Marsh resigned in May.
The board still has a vacancy, that of Republican Patrick Kriner, who resigned in June. The Lucas County GOP has recommended Maumee lawyer Tony DeGidio for the seat.
In other action, the elections board approved the candidacies of 27 candidates for office in the cities of Toledo, Waterville, Maumee, Sylvania, and Oregon; the village of Holland, and the Springfield and Washington Local school boards, as well as a proposed 4.9-mill levy for Washington Local School District.