While he started the day 20 signatures short on his nominating petitions, Jim Traficant ended with an extra 11 after the Mahoning County Board of Elections held a hearing on the issue Monday night.
Supporters of the former U.S. representative and ex-convict have been fighting the system for weeks, trying to convince anyone who'd listen that their candidate deserves to run in November for the 17th District congressional seat. They met with the board Monday evening to discuss signatures the board previously declared invalid.
The board then validated 31 signatures that it originally did not count, bringing the total to 647 valid signatures. The board said originally some didn't meet the state's guidelines.
"It's not always easy to tell who signed those petition forms," said board member Mark Munroe. "And through the work of our staff, and through the Traficant supporters and volunteers we were able to clear 31 additional signatures."
Mahoning County Board of Elections Director Tom McCabe said prior to the meeting that his board's guidelines for validating signatures differs from those in the other counties.
"I think the other counties have taken a more substantial compliance where they've allowed signatures that our board hasn't in the past," he said. "Whether they be printed or if there's some dispute of who that person is. I think what our board is going to take a look at tonight is do we go with the substantial compliance in lieu of strict compliance as to what's required on petitions."
Mahoning County will now send its findings to the Trumbull County Board of Elections. That board is expected to approve the issue Wednesday and put Traficant on the ballot.
Munroe gives Traficant supporters a lot of credit for their hard work, but one supporter said she kept the faith that Traficant would prevail.
"Through the trials and tribulations, I believed Jim Traficant was going to be put on the ballot, and my dream came true," said Linda Kovachik.
Kovachik said Traficant's campaign will be a simple one.
"All we need is your vote," she said. "We don't have much money. All we need is the support and the vote of the people that worked so hard."
Traficant, who represented Ohio's 17th Congressional District from 1985 to 2002, turned in 2,092 valid signatures May 3, which was the deadline to file as an Independent candidate. It was then announced he was short of the 2,199 signatures needed to run.
Traficant's campaign filed an appeal, saying some of his signatures were improperly invalidated or off in Summit, Trumbull and Mahoning counties. Trumbull forwarded the appeal to Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, who ordered Monday's formal hearing to determine the exact number of signatures needed to appear on the ballot.
If the signatures go through Wednesday, Traficant will face Republican Jim Graham and incumbent Democrat Tim Ryan in November.
