TrustVoting Atlas

Each person desiring to become a candidate for  a party nomination at a primary election or
for election to an  office or position to be voted for at a primary election, except  persons
desiring to become joint candidates for the offices of  governor and lieutenant governor and
except as otherwise provided  in section 3513.051 of the Revised Code, shall, not later than
four p.m. of the ninetieth day before the day of the primary  election, file a declaration of
candidacy and petition and pay the  fees required under divisions (A) and (B) of section
3513.10 of  the Revised Code. The declaration of candidacy and all separate  petition papers
shall be filed at the same time as one instrument.  When the offices are to be voted for at a
primary election,  persons desiring to become joint candidates for the offices of  governor and
lieutenant governor shall, not later than four p.m.  of the ninetieth day before the day of the
primary election,  comply with section 3513.04 of the Revised Code. The prospective  joint
candidates' declaration of candidacy and all separate  petition papers of candidacies shall be
filed at the same time as  one instrument. The secretary of state or a board of elections  shall
not accept for filing a declaration of candidacy and  petition of a person seeking to become a
candidate if that person,  for the same election, has already filed a declaration of  candidacy
or a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate,  or has become a candidate by the filling
of a vacancy under  section 3513.30 of the Revised Code for any federal, state, or  county
office, if the declaration of candidacy is for a state or  county office, or for any municipal or
township office, if the  declaration of candidacy is for a municipal or township office.
If the declaration of candidacy declares a candidacy which is  to be submitted to electors
throughout the entire state, the  petition, including a petition for joint candidates for the  offices
of governor and lieutenant governor, shall be signed by at  least one thousand qualified
electors who are members of the same  political party as the candidate or joint candidates,
and the  declaration of candidacy and petition shall be filed with the  secretary of state;
provided that the secretary of state shall not  accept or file any such petition appearing on its
face to contain  signatures of more than three thousand electors.
Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, if the  declaration of candidacy is of one that
is to be submitted only to  electors within a district, political subdivision, or portion  thereof, the
petition shall be signed by not less than fifty  qualified electors who are members of the same
political party as  the political party of which the candidate is a member. If the  declaration of
candidacy is for party nomination as a candidate  for member of the legislative authority of a
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municipal corporation  elected by ward, the petition shall be signed by not less than  twenty-
five qualified electors who are members of the political  party of which the candidate is a
member.
No such petition, except the petition for a candidacy that is  to be submitted to electors
throughout the entire state, shall be  accepted for filing if it appears to contain on its face
signatures of more than three times the minimum number of  signatures. When a petition of a
candidate has been accepted for  filing by a board of elections, the petition shall not be
deemed  invalid if, upon verification of signatures contained in the  petition, the board of
elections finds the number of signatures  accepted exceeds three times the minimum number
of signatures  required. A board of elections may discontinue verifying  signatures on petitions
when the number of verified signatures  equals the minimum required number of qualified
signatures.
If the declaration of candidacy declares a candidacy for  party nomination or for election as a
candidate of a minor party,  the minimum number of signatures on such petition is one-half
the  minimum number provided in this section, except that, when the  candidacy is one for
election as a member of the state central  committee or the county central committee of a
political party,  the minimum number shall be the same for a minor party as for a  major party.
If a declaration of candidacy is one for election as a member  of the state central committee or
the county central committee of  a political party, the petition shall be signed by five qualified
electors of the district, county, ward, township, or precinct  within which electors may vote for
such candidate. The electors  signing such petition shall be members of the same political
party  as the political party of which the candidate is a member.
For purposes of signing or circulating a petition of  candidacy for party nomination or election,
an elector is  considered to be a member of a political party if the elector  voted in that party's
primary election within the preceding two  calendar years, or if the elector did not vote in any
other  party's primary election within the preceding two calendar years.
If the declaration of candidacy is of one that is to be  submitted only to electors within a
county, or within a district  or subdivision or part thereof smaller than a county, the petition
shall be filed with the board of elections of the county. If the  declaration of candidacy is of
one that is to be submitted only to  electors of a district or subdivision or part thereof that is
situated in more than one county, the petition shall be filed with  the board of elections of the
county within which the major  portion of the population thereof, as ascertained by the next
preceding federal census, is located.
A petition shall consist of separate petition papers, each of  which shall contain signatures of
electors of only one county.  Petitions or separate petition papers containing signatures of
electors of more than one county shall not thereby be declared  invalid. In case petitions or
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separate petition papers containing  signatures of electors of more than one county are filed,
the  board shall determine the county from which the majority of  signatures came, and only
signatures from such county shall be  counted. Signatures from any other county shall be
invalid.
Each separate petition paper shall be circulated by one  person only, who shall be the
candidate or a joint candidate or a  member of the same political party as the candidate or
joint  candidates, and each separate petition paper shall be governed by  the rules set forth in
section 3501.38 of the Revised Code.
The secretary of state shall promptly transmit to each board  such separate petition papers of
each petition accompanying a  declaration of candidacy filed with the secretary of state as
purport to contain signatures of electors of the county of such  board. The board of the most
populous county of a district shall  promptly transmit to each board within such district such
separate  petition papers of each petition accompanying a declaration of  candidacy filed with
it as purport to contain signatures of  electors of the county of each such board. The board of
a county  within which the major portion of the population of a subdivision,  situated in more
than one county, is located, shall promptly  transmit to the board of each other county within
which a portion  of such subdivision is located such separate petition papers of  each petition
accompanying a declaration of candidacy filed with  it as purport to contain signatures of
electors of the portion of  such subdivision in the county of each such board.
All petition papers so transmitted to a board and all  petitions accompanying declarations of
candidacy filed with a  board shall, under proper regulations, be open to public  inspection
until four p.m. of the eightieth day before the day of  the next primary election. Each board
shall, not later than the  seventy-eighth day before the day of that primary election,  examine
and determine the validity or invalidity of the signatures  on the petition papers so transmitted
to or filed with it and  shall return to the secretary of state all petition papers  transmitted to it
by the secretary of state, together with its  certification of its determination as to the validity or
invalidity of signatures thereon, and shall return to each other  board all petition papers
transmitted to it by such board,  together with its certification of its determination as to the
validity or invalidity of the signatures thereon. All other  matters affecting the validity or
invalidity of such petition  papers shall be determined by the secretary of state or the board
with whom such petition papers were filed.
Protests against the candidacy of any person filing a  declaration of candidacy for party
nomination or for election to  an office or position, as provided in this section, may be filed  by
any qualified elector who is a member of the same political  party as the candidate and who is
eligible to vote at the primary  election for the candidate whose declaration of candidacy the
elector objects to, or by the controlling committee of that  political party. The protest shall be in
writing, and shall be  filed not later than four p.m. of the seventy-fourth day before  the day of
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the primary election. The protest shall be filed with  the election officials with whom the
declaration of candidacy and  petition was filed. Upon the filing of the protest, the election
officials with whom it is filed shall promptly fix the time for  hearing it, and shall forthwith mail
notice of the filing of the  protest and the time fixed for hearing to the person whose
candidacy is so protested. They shall also forthwith mail notice  of the time fixed for such
hearing to the person who filed the  protest. At the time fixed, such election officials shall hear
the  protest and determine the validity or invalidity of the  declaration of candidacy and
petition. If they find that such  candidate is not an elector of the state, district, county, or
political subdivision in which the candidate seeks a party  nomination or election to an office
or position, or has not fully  complied with this chapter, the candidate's declaration of
candidacy and petition shall be determined to be invalid and shall  be rejected; otherwise, it
shall be determined to be valid. That  determination shall be final.
A protest against the candidacy of any persons filing a  declaration of candidacy for joint party
nomination to the offices  of governor and lieutenant governor shall be filed, heard, and
determined in the same manner as a protest against the candidacy  of any person filing a
declaration of candidacy singly.
The secretary of state shall, on the seventieth day before  the day of a primary election, certify
to each board in the state  the forms of the official ballots to be used at the primary  election,
together with the names of the candidates to be printed  on the ballots whose nomination or
election is to be determined by  electors throughout the entire state and who filed valid
declarations of candidacy and petitions.
The board of the most populous county in a district comprised  of more than one county but
less than all of the counties of the  state shall, on the seventieth day before the day of a
primary  election, certify to the board of each county in the district the  names of the
candidates to be printed on the official ballots to  be used at the primary election, whose
nomination or election is  to be determined only by electors within the district and who  filed
valid declarations of candidacy and petitions.
The board of a county within which the major portion of the  population of a subdivision
smaller than the county and situated  in more than one county is located shall, on the
seventieth day  before the day of a primary election, certify to the board of each  county in
which a portion of that subdivision is located the names  of the candidates to be printed on the
official ballots to be used  at the primary election, whose nomination or election is to be
determined only by electors within that subdivision and who filed  valid declarations of
candidacy and petitions.
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