Ohio Revised Code
Chapter 3513 | Primaries; Nominations
Section 3513.261 | Nominating Petition Form and Fee.

Effective: June 1, 2006
Latest Legislation: House Bill 3 - 126th General Assembly
A nominating petition may consist of one or more separate petition papers, each of which shall be substantially in the form prescribed in this section. If the petition consists of more than one separate petition paper, the statement of candidacy of the candidate or joint candidates named need be signed by the candidate or joint candidates on only one of such separate petition papers, but the statement of candidacy so signed shall be copied on each other separate petition paper before the signatures of electors are placed on it. Each nominating petition containing signatures of electors of more than one county shall consist of separate petition papers each of which shall contain signatures of electors of only one county; provided that petitions containing signatures of electors of more than one county shall not thereby be declared invalid. In case petitions containing signatures of electors of more than one county are filed, the board of elections shall determine the county from which the majority of the signatures came, and only signatures from this county shall be counted. Signatures from any other county shall be invalid.
All signatures on nominating petitions shall be written in ink or indelible pencil.
At the time of filing a nominating petition, the candidate designated in the nominating petition, and joint candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, shall pay to the election officials with whom it is filed the fees specified for the office under divisions (A) and (B) of section 3513.10 of the Revised Code. The fees shall be disposed of by those election officials in the manner that is provided in section 3513.10 of the Revised Code for the disposition of other fees, and in no case shall a fee required under that section be returned to a candidate.
Candidates or joint candidates whose names are written on the ballot, and who are elected, shall pay the same fees under section 3513.10 of the Revised Code that candidates who file nominating petitions pay. Payment of these fees shall be a condition precedent to the granting of their certificates of election.
Each nominating petition shall contain a statement of candidacy that shall be signed by the candidate or joint candidates named in it or by an attorney in fact acting pursuant to section 3501.382 of the Revised Code. Such statement of candidacy shall contain a declaration made under penalty of election falsification that the candidate desires to be a candidate for the office named in it, and that the candidate is an elector qualified to vote for the office the candidate seeks.
The form of the nominating petition and statement of candidacy shall be substantially as follows:
"STATEMENT OF CANDIDACY
I, ___________________________________ (Name of candidate), the undersigned, hereby declare under penalty of election falsification that my voting residence is in ________________ __________ Precinct of the _________________________ (Township) or (Ward and City, or Village) in the county of _______________ Ohio; that my post-office address is ____________________________ (Street and Number, if any, or Rural Route and Number) of the _______________________________ (City, Village, or post office) of ____________________, Ohio; and that I am a qualified elector in the precinct in which my voting residence is located. I hereby declare that I desire to be a candidate for election to the office of ______________ in the ________________________ (State, District, County, City, Village, Township, or School District) for the ______________________________________ (Full term or unexpired term ending ________________) at the General Election to be held on the ___________ day of ___________, ____
I further declare that I am an elector qualified to vote for the office I seek. Dated this _______ day of ______________, ____
___________________________
(Signature of candidate)
WHOEVER COMMITS ELECTION FALSIFICATION IS GUILTY OF A FELONY OF THE FIFTH DEGREE.
I, _________________________________, hereby constitute the persons named below a committee to represent me:
Name Residence
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
NOMINATING PETITION
We, the undersigned, qualified electors of the state of Ohio, whose voting residence is in the County, City, Village, Ward, Township or Precinct set opposite our names, hereby nominate ____________________ as a candidate for election to the office of ___________________________ in the ____________________________ (State, District, County, City, Village, Township, or School District) for the _________________ (Full term or unexpired term ending ___________________) to be voted for at the general election next hereafter to be held, and certify that this person is, in our opinion, well qualified to perform the duties of the office or position to which the person desires to be elected.


____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
___________________________, declares under penalty of election falsification that such person is a qualified elector of the state of Ohio and resides at the address appearing below such person's signature hereto; that such person is the circulator of the foregoing petition paper containing ________________ signatures; that such person witnessed the affixing of every signature; that all signers were to the best of such person's knowledge and belief qualified to sign; and that every signature is to the best of such person's knowledge and belief the signature of the person whose signature it purports to be or of an attorney in fact acting pursuant to section 3501.382 of the Revised Code.
___________________________
(Signature of circulator)
___________________________
(Address of circulator's
permanent residence
in this state)
___________________________
(If petition is for a statewide
candidate, the name and address
of person employing circulator
to circulate petition, if any)
WHOEVER COMMITS ELECTION FALSIFICATION IS GUILTY OF A FELONY OF THE FIFTH DEGREE."
The secretary of state shall prescribe a form of nominating petition for a group of candidates for the office of member of a board of education, township office, and offices of municipal corporations of under two thousand population.
The secretary of state shall prescribe a form of statement of candidacy and nominating petition, which shall be substantially similar to the form of statement of candidacy and nominating petition set forth in this section, that will be suitable for joint candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor.
If such petition nominates a candidate whose election is to be determined by the electors of a county or a district or subdivision within the county, it shall be filed with the board of such county. If the petition nominates a candidate whose election is to be determined by the voters of a subdivision located in more than one county, it shall be filed with the board of the county in which the major portion of the population of such subdivision is located.
If the petition nominates a candidate whose election is to be determined by the electors of a district comprised of more than one county but less than all of the counties of the state, it shall be filed with the board of elections of the most populous county in such district. If the petition nominates a candidate whose election is to be determined by the electors of the state at large, it shall be filed with the secretary of state.
The secretary of state or a board of elections shall not accept for filing a nominating petition of a person seeking to become a candidate if that person, for the same election, has already filed a declaration of candidacy, a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate, or a nominating petition, or has become a candidate through party nomination at a primary election or by the filling of a vacancy under section 3513.30 or 3513.31 of the Revised Code for any federal, state, or county office, if the nominating petition is for a state or county office, or for any municipal or township office, for member of a city, local, or exempted village board of education, or for member of a governing board of an educational service center, if the nominating petition is for a municipal or township office, or for member of a city, local, or exempted village board of education, or for member of a governing board of an educational service center.

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