At least two Cincinnati Council candidates have problems with the petitions they filed with the Hamilton County Board of Elections.
Board officials confirmed there were technical problems with petitions submitted by incumbent Council Member P.G. Sittenfeld.
Election Board Chairman Tim Burke said dates were crossed out on the back of the petitions and corrected. He said there’s a question of the whether those corrections are valid, or if the petitions are invalid. Burke said he believes the Sittenfeld campaign will recirculate the petitions in order to avoid a potential problem.
Sittenfeld did confirm his campaign is in the process of collecting new signatures.
"I trust the Board of Elections will be fair and not discount the voices of people across our city who want me placed on the ballot,” Sittenfeld said in an emailed statement. “But I'm also not taking any chances, so over the next several days, our robust campaign organization will be kicking into high-gear to once again gather the necessary signatures to ensure my place on the ballot."
Council candidates must submit 500 valid signatures by August 22nd in order to be on the November ballot.
Rookie candidate Mike Moroski was about 40 signatures short of the goal. Burke said since the petitions were already filed, Moroski would also have to start over and collect 500 new signatures.
Moroski confirmed he and a team of volunteers are busy collecting new signatures. He said Wednesday afternoon they had collected about 200 names in less than 24 hours. Moroski expects to complete the process this weekend.
Board of Elections Assistant Director Sally Krisel said as of early Wednesday 12 petitions had been filed for the Cincinnati Council race including Sittenfeld and Moroski. She said incumbents Yvette Simpson and Wendell Young have not filed yet along with a couple other endorsed Democratic candidates.
