Uniontown election to include write-in candidates

Two names have been added to the mix of candidates vying for spots on the Uniontown City Council after the April 3 general election.

According to information obtained from Uniontown City Clerk Linda Gier, local residents Mary Beerbower and Hartman "Jay" Kite will be considered as write-in candidates on voters' ballots on April 3.

Beerbower and Kite will try to gain enough write-in votes to secure a spot on the council. They join a list of seven other candidates who have already officially filed with the Bourbon County Clerk's office to run for that office in the election. Those candidates are James Bradbury, Donald Dennis, Judy Suzanne Franklin, Iva Jean Isaac, Janice Ramsey, Randy Rathbun, and Michael Vanzant.

Write-in candidates are classified as those candidates in an election whose names do not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may choose by writing in that person's name. While many counties require write-in candidates to be registered as candidates before the election, Bourbon County Clerk and Election Officer Joanne Long said both Beerbower and Kite had not filed any official paperwork with her office, and that she was not aware of any additional write-in candidates.

Any person's name can be added to a ballot as a write-in candidate, who are typically not required to pay filing fees for the election. However, the candidate is personally responsible for financing his or her own campaign, Long said.

"Anybody can just say, 'write their name in,'" Long said.

Some states and local jurisdictions allow voters to place stickers with the write-in candidate's name on the ballot instead of actually writing in the candidate's name. A resolution passed in 1997 prevents Bourbon County voters from using the stickers for write-in candidates, primarily because the stickers clog up the machines used to tabulate all of the votes that are cast, Long said.