The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections announced this afternoon that it has received approximately 1,600 petition signatures
for the East Cleveland annexation issue and has begun the work on their verification. According to State law, at least 559 valid
signatures are required to initiate the annexation process that would conclude
with the City of East Cleveland becoming part of the City of Cleveland.
Pat
McDonald, Director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections expects the signature
verification process to be completed by the end of this week. In order for a signature to be valid the
voter must have cast a ballot in the last municipal election and be a resident
of the City. “If the number of required
signatures is reached and certified, it will then be up to the elected officials
of East Cleveland to move the process forward,” said McDonald in a statement released by the Board.
According to McDonald, the
process East Cleveland officials must follow includes (this is just a summary
there are some actions and possible scenarios that are not included):
· Declaring their
intention to go into negotiations with the City of Cleveland to be annexed
· Appointing members of
a commission from both cities who would negotiate the terms of the annexation
· Following
negotiations, ballot language would be created
· Each voter would be
mailed information concerning the conditions of the annexation
· The annexation
question would be put to voters during a Primary or General Election
If
all of the requirements for annexation are met the Cleveland City Council has
the option of putting the issue before their voters or approving the annexation
by a vote of Council.
If the effort falls short of collecting the 559
signatures state law does not allow the petitioners to gather additional
signatures to reach their goal: (R.C. 3501.38 (I)(2)(b). However, they may choose start all over
again with a brand new petition Drive.
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