In another turn on our emotion roller coaster, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has ruled on ex-con ex-Rep. Jim Traficant’s appeal to get on the ballot for his old House seat. And she’s giving him one more chance to try.
As you may recall, Traficant, who was released from prison last fall, made a push to get on the ballot but fell short of the signatures needed. He appealed, saying that the elections board both overestimated how many signatures he needed and threw out some valid signatures.
It’s a bit complicated, but Brunner ordered a couple of things: One, the Mahoning County Board of Elections must hold a hearing so Traficant’s supporters can argue in favor of certifying some of the signatures that were thrown out. Two, the Summit County board must adjust the number of signatures needed to get on the ballot — the number should equal one percent of the people who voted in the last elections. Three, the Trumbull County board must postpone its decision on whether to allow Traficant on the ballot until the other two boards do their work.
He is only about 100 votes short, so anything is possible.
Traficant began talking about running for Congress again almost as soon as he got out of jail last year. He served seven years for money laundering, bribery and racketeering after being expelled from Congress.
His supporters recently threatened to go as far as suing to get him on the ballot.
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