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The Candidate is ultimately responsible for the completion and validity of their petitions. Please contact the Board of Elections at 419-739-6720 as charters may affect your candidate requirements.

Rules Governing Candidate Nominating Petitions

Withdrawl of Candidacy 

Write-In Candidates 

Petition Forms

Rules Governing Candidate Nominating Petitions

1. The "Statement of Candidacy" or "Declaration of Candidacy" portion of each petition must be completely filled out and signed in ink, by the candidate before being circulated. It will be ruled invalid if it is dated after it is circulated.
2. Signatures must be in ink.
3. Signatures must be personally affixed by registered electors who are qualified to vote on the candidacy. If a signature is difficult to read, the name should be printed immediately underneath.
4. Petitions for a candidate for party nomination must be signed and circulated by qualified voters who are members of the same political party as the candidate. A voter is considered to be a member of a political party if he or she voted in that party’s primary election within the preceding two calendar years, or if he or she did not vote in any other party’s primary election within the preceding two calendar years. (R.C. 3513.05)
5. A candidate may serve as the circulator of his or her own petition, although he or she may not sign his or her own candidacy petition as an elector. For the purpose of circulating his or her own petition, a candidate is exempted from the party affiliation requirements described above. (R.C. 3513.191 (C)(4)) A circulator may not sign the same petition paper that he or she is circulating; a circulator may, however, sign a petition paper being circulated for the same candidacy by a different circulator.
6. After circulating the petition, circulators must sign a statement, under penalty of election falsification:
   Indicating the number of signatures contained on the petition.
   That the circulator witnessed the affixing of each signature on the petition.
   That all signers, to the best of the circulator’s belief and knowledge, were qualified to sign.
   That each signature is, to the best of the circulator’s knowledge and belief, the signature of the person whose signature it purports to be.
7. Once a petition has been filed, no supplemental filings are permitted, and no changes or corrections may be made on the petitions. The original petition with the candidate’s signature must be filed at the same time as all part petitions are filed.

8. Each petition paper shall be circulated by one person only, and shall contain signatures of qualified electors of one county only. When petitions are circulated in a district that contains more than one county, separate petition papers must be circulated in each county. (R.C. 3501.38, 3513.05, 3513.07, 3513.261)

9. No petition shall contain more than three times the minimum number of required signatures.

10. For a complete packet of petition information, contact the Petition Department at the Auglaize County Board of Elections at (419) 739-6720

Withdrawl of Candidacy

A candidate, other than a presidential primary candidate, may withdraw from the presidential primary election by filing a written statement any time prior to the 51st day before that election. A presidential primary candidate may withdraw by filing a written statement not later than 4 p.m. on the 30th day before the presidential primary election. (R.C. 3513.30 (B) and (C))

A candidate may withdraw from the general election by filing a written statement any time prior to that election. (R.C. 3513.30 (D)) Exception: If the primary is a presidential primary, a candidate may withdraw at any time prior to the 51st day before the election.

For a replacement candidate to be named for a withdrawn nominated or certified candidate, the appropriate political party or independent’s nominating committee must certify the person to fill the vacancy not later than 4 p.m. of the 76th day before the general election. (R.C. 3513.31)

Write-In Candidate

To be a write-in candidate, a person must file a declaration of intent (Form 13, or for independent joint candidates for president and vice president, Form 13-A). Only write-in candidates who have filed a declaration of intent will have votes counted in the primary or general election (R.C. 3513.041). A write-in candidate must meet all of the eligibility requirements of the office. (See specific office for qualifications.)

Write-in candidates for statewide office and *independent joint candidates for president and vice president must file their declaration of intent with the Secretary of State. All other write-in candidates must file with the appropriate county board of elections.

A declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate in the primary election must be filed not later than 4 p.m. 50 days before the primary election. A declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate in the general election must be filed not later than 4 p.m. 50 days before the general election. (R.C. 3513.041) A write-in candidate must pay the same filing fee as any other candidate for the office. (See office filing fees under office of interest). (R.C. 3513.10 (A) and (B))

If the write-in candidate files for the primary election, the candidate must receive at least the same amount of write-in votes on the primary ballot as the "Candidate Signature Requirements" require to advance to the general election ballot.

* Note: A slate of 21 presidential electors must be filed with petitions.*

Petition Forms

Packets containing petition forms and candidate requirements may be obtained by scheduling an appointment with someone in the Campaign Finance Department. You can e-mail or call 419-739-6720.