Clermont County Board of Elections runner Anthony Puliafico, of Union Township, carries election ballot and equipment to the Board of Elections office, located at 76 S. Riverside Drive in Batavia, on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2015.

Clermont County Board of Elections runner Anthony Puliafico, of Union Township, carries election ballot and equipment to the Board of Elections office, located at 76 S. Riverside Drive in Batavia, on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2015.
By Kelly Doran
Editor

Clermont County had nine races in the 2015 election on Nov. 3 where either no candidates ran for the position or not enough candidates ran.

Three of those races where for village council in Chilo Village, Neville Village and Newtonsville Village. All three had two council seats open. No candidates ran in Chilo and Neville and one candidate ran as a write-in in Newtonsville.

When there is a vacancy on a village council, the council member who was holding the seat will continue to hold the seat until a new council member is elected at a regular election. Some council members have held seats for eight years but they don’t run because they know they won’t be challenged, said Judy Miller, president of the Clermont County Board of Elections.

Council members will sometimes reason that if they are unlikely to be opposed and their term will simply continue, there is no reason to pay the $30 filing fee, Miller said.

This makes it hard for the board of elections to keep records since the appointments run until someone is elected. Previously, the secretary of state said not to put races on the ballot if no candidates file, but that has since been revoked, which made things easier for the board, Miller said.

When an entity appoints someone to a position, that entity is required to notify the board of elections within 10 days, Miller said.

Unlike with the council members, the mayor cannot continue his position if he is not elected unless he is appointed by council, Miller said. No candidates ran for mayor in Chilo or Neville.

If council does not appoint a candidate within 30 days, the probate court will appoint one, Miller said.

There was also no candidate filed for the clerk-treasurer position in Neville. Often when no one runs for clerk-treasurer council will vote to change that position to fiscal officer, which is an appointed position in a village rather than an elected one, Miller said. Fiscal officers in townships are elected.

Write-in candidates filed for some races as well, including for council in Newtonsville and for the board of education for the Felicity-Franklin Local School District and the Goshen Local School District.

To file as a write-in, a candidate must file by a certain date, which was Aug. 24 this year, and pay the same filing fee as the other candidates. The candidate does not have to collect signatures, Miller said.

However, the candidate’s name will not be on the ballot, there will be a blank space on the ballot for the voter to fill in the candidate’s name. The board of elections sees a lot of votes for Santa Clause and Micky Mouse, Miller said.

In Newtonsville, Michael Davis filed as a write-in. A write-in candidate only needs one vote to be elected if they are not opposed, Miller said. Davis got three votes. The council will need to appoint one position still.

Felicity-Franklin had two seats open. Jennifer Broadwell was the write-in candidate and had 139 votes. The board will need the fill the vacancy in January.

In Goshen, John Benthien and George Rise both intended to run for re-election, however Rise did not have enough valid signatures. Since Rise did not withdraw his petition before Aug. 17 when the board certified candidates, he could not run as a write-in.

Julie Casey saw that there would be an open position and decided to run as a write-in. She got 306 votes and will fill the open seat left by Rise.

In addition to not needing to collect signatures, candidates may also run as a write-in if they don’t want to run a campaign, Miller said. If they do run a campaign, they are still subject to the same campaign rules as other candidates.