To:Board of Elections

[irishbobcat]

Interesting to see that the Mahoning County Board of Elections Web-site is now down. Do you suppose they are now posting candidate information like you can find on the Trumbull County Board of Elections??

Dennis Spisak

[irishbobcat]

Dear Mr. McCabe:

I am very upset the way your Board of Elections proceeded with my appeal hearing this morning as well as the outcome of their decision. I am also upset with the way your clerks handled my candidacy from the first day I picked up petitions to the day I turned them in.

First, at this morning's appeal, you and Mr. Wasko stated at the May 12th , 2008 meeting  you would have a written ruling by Prosecuting Attorney Gains on his interpretation of the legal merits of my case. This RULING WAS NEVER PRESENTED ORALLY OR IN WRITTEN FASHION TO ME TODAY. Mr. Gains had written legal merits on the Faison and Martyszyn appeals, and those written merits were presented to Mr. Faison and Mr. Martyyszyn. No written merit was presented to me.
Thus, can I concluded Mr. Gains could not find any legal merits to why my petitions were declared invalid because of the vague language of the O.R.C. codes and thus the board had the option and should have placed my name on the ballot?


Second, I am very upset that on your rules governing petitions. Rule 14 states that your Board of Elections can give out incorrect information which can make my petitions invalid, and there is no legal recourse. Your clerks are not very "candidate friendly" in providing and helping  candidates get on the ballot. In fact, Mr. Smith made the comment today that he wouldn't want 17 additional candidates on the ballot and less candidates were better. Is not the Board of Elections to promote candidate participation?

If I lived in 3 other counties in Ohio today besides Mahoning County I would be on the November ballot for the following reasons:

1. When I picked up my petitions your female clerk handed me 4 petitions, told me all petitions had to be completed in ink, handed me the rules governing petitions sheet, and did not hand me the SOS booklet guide on candidate requirements.

After the board declared my petitions invalid, i went to the Trumbull County Board of Elections Web site which had information on the 2008 elections that YOU CAN MAKE COPIES OF THE ORIGINAL PETITION. Why was this information not given to me by your clerk or posted somewhere on your website?

I also talked with Tim Kettler, who is running for an independent office in Muskinghum County. He also told me after my petetions were declared invalid his Board of Elections explained to him when he picked up his petitions You can make Copies of the Original Petition.

2. When I turned in my petitons on March 3, 2008 at 3pm, your clerk only counted the number of signatures I submitted. He did not check the front of any of my petitions. In Hamilton County, which is larger than Mahoning County, Gwen Marshall, of the Southwest Ohio Green Party sent me the following e-mail about the help they were given when they turned in their independent petitions:

       "When we took in the petitions for the independent candidate for county
commission, the lady at the desk found several petitions with the wrong
date for the term on them. This would have meant that the petitions
were for a different position than the one we were trying to get. She
put the petitions aside and let our candidate correct them before they
were turned in. She alerted me to what was going on while the
candidate was doing a newspaper interview and his lawyer was standing
right next to him. This candidate had made a point of keeping a
friendly relationship with our BOE and so have I and we ended up with
an exceptionally high validity rate. I just bring this up because I
think that the BOE could have helped Spisak if they had wanted to
before his petitions were turned in. I doubt that there is much that
can be done now."

Thus, If I lived in Trumbull, Muskingum, or Hamilton County, I would be a candidate on the November Ballot.
But because I live in Mahoning County I have become another invited independent candidate who is not allowed
to participate in the election process. I had heard horror stories about candidates in the past who were denied ballot access for ticky-tac rulings, and I did not believe them. Today I do.

The Mahoning County Board of Elections does not encourage candidates, but  discourages them. And for you, Ms. Pesta, and Mr. Butler to get my hopes up by telling me that we had a good case going into today's hearing and we stood a good chance of getting on the ballot, the actions of your board members right from the start was they had no intention of listening to our appeal.

I have lost a major amount respect for the Board of Elections and politics in general in Mahoning County.

Sincerely,

Dennis S. Spisak
548 Poland Ave
Struthers, Ohio 44471