Thursday, August 12th, 2021
Five candidates' petitions rejected
By Sydney Albert
Five candidate petitions submitted to the Mercer County Board of Elections for the Nov. 2 general election were rejected this week for either not having enough signatures or because the candidate's signature was missing on certain documents.
The rejected petitions mean some races on the Nov. 3 election ballot will no longer be contested.
Greg LeFevre, an incumbent who had filed to run for re-election to the Fort Recovery School Board, reportedly didn't sign a required statement before sending his petition out for circulation, according to election board staffer Kristi Rable.
The Fort Recovery School Board only has two seats up for election. Fellow incumbent Nicholas Wehrkamp is still running, as is newcomer Sean Kahlig. Electors will be asked to vote for no more than two candidates in the race.
The Marion Local School Board also has two seats up for election. Incumbents Phil Moeller and Jesse Rose will remain on the ballot, but Scott Smith, who had also filed to run, had his petition denied due to not having enough signatures.
Two candidate hopefuls who'd submitted petitions for the Coldwater School Board also had theirs rejected. Dan Berry reportedly did not sign a required statement before circulating his petition while Doug Broering did not have the required number of signatures on his, according to Rable. The Coldwater school board has three seats up for election, while incumbents Mike Hoying Jr. and James Miller filed to run again, incumbent Gary Hoying did not. Michael Birt is the only new candidate running for the board whose petition was not rejected. Electors will be asked to vote for no more than three candidates in November.
Broering also had filed to run for Butler Township Trustee. His petition for that office likewise was rejected for not having enough signatures. The Butler Township race remains contested, however. Incumbent trustees Hubert Homan and Nicholas Kahlig filed to run again, and challengers Chris Dues and Dusty Uhlenhake will also be on the ballot.
Electors will be asked to vote for no more than two candidates on the ballot.
Auglaize County Board of Elections director Michelle Wilcox reported that all candidate petitions submitted had been certified Wednesday morning.
