Section 3513.263 | Processing nominating petitions.
The nominating petitions of all candidates required to be filed before four p.m. of the ninetieth day before the day of the general election, shall be processed as follows:
If such petition is filed with the secretary of state, the secretary of state shall promptly transmit to each board such separate petition papers as purports to contain signatures of electors of the county of such board.
If such petition is filed with the board of a county in which the major portion of the population of a subdivision is located, such board shall promptly transmit to the board of each county in which other portions of such subdivision are located such separate petition papers of the petition as purport to contain signatures of electors of such county.
All petition papers so transmitted to a board of elections, and all nominating petitions filed with a board of elections are public records subject to disclosure under section 149.43 of the Revised Code. Upon receiving a public records request for petition papers and petitions accompanying declarations of candidacy, the board shall, as soon as practicable, make available for public inspection, or provide copies of, the petition papers and petitions, in electronic or paper form as specified by the requester, whether or not the petitions have been modified or marked upon or the petition's signatures have been certified as valid by the board. Each board shall, not later than the seventy-eighth day before the day of such general election examine and determine the sufficiency of the signatures on the petition papers transmitted to or filed with it and the validity or invalidity of petitions filed with it, and shall return to each other board all petition papers transmitted to it by such other board, together with its certification of its determination as to the validity or invalidity of signatures thereon. A signature on a nominating petition is not valid if it is dated more than one year before the date the nominating petition was filed. All other matters affecting the validity or invalidity of such petition papers shall be determined by the board with whom such petition papers were filed.
Written protests against such nominating petitions may be filed by any qualified elector eligible to vote for the candidate whose nominating petition the elector objects to, not later than the seventy-fourth day before the general election. Such protests shall be filed with the election officials with whom the nominating petition was filed. Upon the filing of such protests, the election officials with whom it is filed shall promptly fix the time and place for hearing it, and shall forthwith mail notice of the filing of such protest and the time and place for hearing it to the person whose nomination is protested. They shall also forthwith mail notice of the time and place fixed for the hearing to the person who filed the protest. At the time and place fixed, such election officials shall hear the protest and determine the validity or invalidity of the petition. Such determination shall be final.
Last updated March 31, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Available Versions of this Section
- June 21, 2013 – Senate Bill 47 - 130th General Assembly [ View June 21, 2013 Version ]
- June 16, 2026 – Amended by Senate Bill 63 - 136th General Assembly [ View June 16, 2026 Version ]