Seven write-in candidates are on the ballot across Licking County for the Nov. 5 general election, in part because 10 other candidates were removed from the ballot for incomplete petitions. County election boards are prohibited by law from pre-checking any candidate's petition before its reviewed by the board, according to the Ohio Secretary of State's office. But some officials are saying that needs to change.

Voters in the village of Hebron thought they would have any easy time deciding whom to pick for mayor, given that only one candidate had filed for the job.

But within two weeks of the election's August filing deadline, the Licking County Board of Elections removed the sole candidate from the ballot for filing an incomplete petition. Days later, three write-in candidates filed.

Jim Layton, a Hebron village councilman, and Brandon Daubenmire, chairman of Hebron's Planning and Zoning Board, are running as write-in mayoral candidates in place of Valerie Mockus. She was removed for not completely filling out her petition. A third write-in candidate, Hebron council President Thomas Marietta, filed but later dropped out of the race.


Layton and Daubenmire are two of the county's seven write-in candidates running in the Nov. 5 general election. Voters will have no names to select from on the ballot for Hebron's mayor, as well as for trustees in Granville and Mary Ann townships.

The reason? Incomplete filing petitions.

Sixty-two other positions across the county are uncontested races, or don't have any candidate running at all.

Luke Burton, deputy director of the Licking County Board of Elections, said it's a little unusual to have a write-in only ballot for multiple elected positions. But it's also normal to remove candidates for incomplete ballots each year.

"It does seem like a lot to remove 10 people from the ballot," Burton said. "Unfortunately, it does happen every election."

When candidates files for office, they must complete a petition that includes basic information including name, address, which election they're running in and what position they're seeking. Candidates are also required to get 50 signatures from registered voters in their district and sign the back of the petition.

Petitions are reviewed by the county's Board of Elections and are either accepted or rejected. They can be rejected for a number of reasons, Burton said, such as not receiving enough valid signatures or not signing the circulator statements.

Write-in candidates also have to file a petition, but no signatures are required to run.

"When somebody would become a write-in candidate, it’s usually a last minute option to get on the ballot," Burton said. "Sometimes they’ve missed the deadline, sometimes they want to see who else is filing first."

Or in cases like those in Licking County this year, it's because no one else is on the ballot.

County election boards are prohibited by law from prechecking any candidate's petition before it's reviewed by the board, according to the Ohio Secretary of State's office.

Not being allowed to help candidates when they turn in their petitions is something Burton said he wishes he could change.

"It’s something that seems very arbitrary, and I hate that we can’t help people," Burton said. "The worst part of my job is calling up a candidate and telling them (their petition) wasn’t good enough."

For Mockus, she said it was a disappointing moment to receive the call.

The Hebron resident and president of Apple Pi Consulting, a local consulting company that helps higher-education financial aid offices, had never considered running for office. It was only after the village's current Mayor Mike McFarland asked her to consider taking over.

Mockus began circulating her petition and soon realized how detailed the process was.

"I had no idea how complex it is, how much paperwork there is, how much emotion went into it," Mockus said. "That lack of knowledge ended up being a really big barrier."

Candidates and election boards have run into issues for helping in the past.

Rep. Kristin Boggs, D-Columbus, was allowed to run in the 2018 primary election as a write-in candidate after she was informed by the Franklin County Board of Elections that she forgot to sign the top of some of her petitions, making them invalid. 

Jon Husted, then Secretary of State, allowed Boggs to run as a write-in, but said he was concerned that the county board gave Boggs preferential treatment by informing her that her petitions had problems, giving her time to withdraw before the board voted to certify her candidacy.

Burton said some of the rules around the petition process are outdated.

"I do think change is needed. This is an antiquated process," he said. "I’m not sure when some of these laws were put into effect or their initial intent, but I don’t think there should be barriers."