Mad River Township Trustee Joe Catanzaro appeared with his attorney at a hearing held by the Clark County Board of Elections on Thursday, August 21, 2017.  The purpose of the hearing was to decide whether or not two signatures on the petition filled by Catanzaro to run for his current seat on the board would be accepted.

Two signatures were in question due to a change of address for the residents of the township.  Catanzaro only had 24 of the required signatures required to have his name placed on the ballot November 7, 2017.

Board of Elections Director Jason Baker explained to the board that the office was unable to verify the address changes during the “lockout” period imposed on the county systems during the special election time in August of this year.  Baker went on to explain that the office was able to have the two signatures in question verified in the office by his staff noting that the change of address was made on the Secretary of State web site prior to the signing of the petitions making them valid. 

Baker went on to note that 300 signatures did come into the system during the lockout period when the offices had no access.  Baker has contacted the programmers for the software to see about having this changed.  He suggested that this type of lockout could impact on counties around Ohio as they all use the same company to manage their software.

The Board voted to approve the petition with 26 valid signatures of the 25 required.  Catanzaro will now appear on the ballot along with Bob McClure, Todd Pettit and Miochael Verbillion.  Two seats are open during this election cycle.