Trumbull elections board splits ballot protest decisions
Two of three protests against the appearance of Dennis Malloy as an Independent candidate for Trumbull Commissioner filed by incumbent Democrat Mauro Cantalamessa were rejected Tuesday by the Board of Elections.
The board, however, remains deadlocked on a third issue that will have to be resolved by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose whose vote would break a 2-2 tie and determine whether Malloy’s name can still appear on the November ballot. That was the case when the board conducted an earlier vote on the candidacy and submitted its deadlock to LaRose. The secretary held off his decision, pending the outcome of Cantalamessa’s protest.
Malloy needed 749 signatures to qualify, but the board’s earlier decision to negate a petition containing 30 signatures put him under the limit.
In a two-hour hearing at the board office, Attorney Dan Letson representing Cantalamessa, presented three arguments to justify the protest. He said Malloy’s candidacy had been supported by the Trumbull County Republican Party Chairman Kevin Wyndham and that he sought GOP support the night the U.S. Senate acquitted President Donald Trump of impeachment. That represented partisan affiliation, Letson said.
He also cited mismatching signatures with the name of William Strimbu, a Brookfield trucking company owner who also circulated the petition. “That doesn’t matter,” said Patrick Quinn, Malloy’s attorney. “(You) don’t have to be a registered elector to circulate a petition.”
The third issue that is deadlocked centers on a signature that was not witnessed by Wyndham, the petition circulator, as required by law, according to an affidavit from the woman who signed the petition.
During the two-hour hearing, Malloy testified that he has never belonged to the Republican Party. He is a former Democratic precinct committee member who resigned from the party earlier this year. A source at the board said records show Malloy had been voting Democratic since 2008.
However, after an hour of deliberation, board members voted unanimously to reject two of Cantalamessa’s protests—the issues of partisan affiliation and Strimbu’s petition. The unwitnessed signature issue and the 2-2 tie vote await LaRose’s ruling. “That happens to be the same petition that is on his desk right now,” said board Chairman Mark Alberini.
Cantalamessa, contacted by 21 News afterward, said it is too early to decide whether he’ll appeal the board’s rejection of two of his protests. “We’ll wait on the Secretary of State, and I hope for an extradited decision,” the commissioner said. “We’re working on a short time frame.”
