For Immediate Release (Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio) – Reform Party backed Independent Justin Tjaden was robbed by the Geauga Board of Elections of ballot access. In his bid to unseat Sarah Arthur in the race for Ohio’s 99th Legislative District, Justin Tjaden collected 552 petition signatures for ballot access, but only needed 495. He found that more than 30 percent of the signatures he collected were disqualified by the Geauga and Ashtabula Board of Elections, leaving only 371 valid signatures.
Both the Geauga Board and Ashtabula Board of Elections provided feedback to the Justin Tjaden campaign regarding the disqualification of all 181 signatures. According to this information, the vast majority of signatures were discarded because the signatures did not match voter registrations exactly. There are also small errors that would be inconsequential in most legal proceedings, such as if someone signed their address as “555 Plymouth” instead of “555 Plymouth Dr”.
Sarah Arthur’s husband, Issac Aurther, sits on one of the two boards.
“The board of elections has to be a neutral body. If someone is married or related to an officeholder, and has a say in the election in which that officeholder is elected, then there is a conflict of interest. The incestuous relationship between the board of elections and the election it oversees is nothing short of corruption. In my opinion, there should be legal statutes against this kind of blatant misconduct” said Reform Party Chairman Nicholas Hensley.
Justin Tjaden has filed a lawsuit against the Geauga Board of Elections and serving the Ohio Secretary of State as an interested party.
Link to story by the Star Beacon
For More Information Contact
Sam Gibbons, Richard Walker or Nicholas Hensley
info@reformparty.org
