Stark County Board of Elections puts Massillon council candidate back on ballot
CANTON ‒ The Stark County Board of Elections on Tuesday tabled the reconsideration of one Democratic candidate for Canton mayor and returned a Democratic candidate for Massillon City Council to the May 2 primary election.
The board took no action on the reconsideration of Canton mayoral hopeful Willis Gordon and approved the petition of William E. Walker, who is running for the Ward 1 seat on Massillon City Council.
The board, made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, is expected to make a decision on Gordon's petition during its next scheduled meeting on March 6.
Gordon and Walker were two of five candidates who were previously ruled ineligible by the Board of Elections after staff determined they failed to submit petitions with the required number of valid signatures. Some reasons signatures may be found not genuine are if the person who signed the petition lives outside the city or ward where the race is occurring, the person provided an address that didn't match the address on their voter registration record or their signature did not match the signature in their voter registration record.
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Candidates kept off the ballot for not having enough valid signatures can sometimes convince the board to reverse its decision by submitting signed, notarized affidavits from people stating they had signed the petitions. Gordon and Walker were the only candidates reconsidered during Tuesday's special meeting.
Willis Gordon makes his candidacy case
Gordon, the Ohio NAACP's veterans affairs chairman, previously submitted 82 signatures, but Board of Elections staff said only 42 of them were valid, which left his eight shy of the required 50 signatures. He asked the board to reconsider its decision by submitting nine affidavits from individuals who had signed his candidacy petition.
The board determined that seven of the nine submitted affidavits proved the signatures to be valid, but that two signatures did not match names in the Board of Election's voter registration database.
Gordon told the board the two individuals go by the nicknames in their daily life, which they signed as their first names on his candidacy petition.
The board gave Gordon until its March 6 meeting to submit curated affidavits or bring witnesses to show the signatures are valid. If Gordon receives approval, he will be one of five Democrats running for Canton mayor. Other include paralegal Kimberley D. Bell; Canton City Council President William V. Sherer II; Canton Councilman at-Large Bill Smuckler; and former State Rep. Thomas West, who previously served as councilman of Ward 2. Roy Scott DePew is the lone Republican running for Canton mayor.
William Walker makes success appeal to get back on ballot
Meanwhile, Walker, a first-time candidate for Massillon council, told the board his original petition had 32 signatures, nine of which were invalidated. This left him two signatures short of the 25 valid signatures needed to run.
"There were three (signatures) that were not allowed because they had printed their names instead of written their names ... I wasn't really aware at the beginning that a printed signature didn't count because the fact that in a lot of schools now they don't teach writing," Walker said.
Walker submitted three affidavits that proved the signatures to be valid, according to the board.
Walker is the only Democrat running for Massillon's Ward 1 council seat. Incumbent Republican Mark Lombardi is seeking reelection.
Reach Paige at 330-580-8577, pmbennett@gannett.com or on Twitter @paigembenn.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: William Walker eligible to run for Massillon council
