Convicted ex-congressman gets another chance to qualify for ballot in Ohio

Ex-congressman gets another chance for Ohio ballot

WARREN, Ohio — A convicted former congressman from Ohio has won more time to prove he collected enough petition signatures to run for Congress Nov. 2 as an independent.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (BROO’-ner) broke a Trumbull County elections board tie Wednesday, giving James Traficant (TRAF’-eh-kehnt) a chance to prove that he collected enough signatures. Brunner stepped in after the board deadlocked on whether to disqualify him from the ballot earlier this month.

Brunner, a Democrat, plans to order election boards in Akron and Youngstown to cooperate in setting the stage for determining if Traficant has enough signatures.

Former Traficant aide Linda Kovachik says his backers welcome the chance to correct errors in judging the validity of petitions.

Traficant represented the Youngstown area as a Democrat for nearly two decades before being convicted of corruption in 2002.