COLUMBUS (WJER) - Sugarcreek’s mayor has been handed a final decision in the fight to get his name on the November 5th ballot. 

The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the 5th District appeals court, denying Clayton Weller’s attempt to force his name on the ballot for mayor. County Board of Elections Director Gail Garbrandt says the state’s high court ruled Weller’s appeal was rightfully denied, citing the same error on his nominating petition that originally caused the elections board to throw it out during certification in August.

“The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Fifth District Court of Appeals, which basically said that unfortunately, Clayton Weller was in violation of the Ohio Revised Code when he did not fill out the nominating petition portion of his petition to run for mayor of Sugarcreek,” she says.

Weller says he’s disappointed with the court’s decision but understanding.

“I’ve accepted what the Supreme Court has decided, and I’m just gonna move forward with it,” he says.

Weller is running for a council-at-large seat in Sugarcreek as a write-in candidate. Garbrandt says there is also a second write-in candidate for council as well a mayoral write-in for the village.

“If you live in Sugarcreek, when you go to the polling location, you can ask the precinct workers to see the list of write-in candidates, and it’s in a folder and they can show it to the voter,” she says.

The Supreme Court issued the ruling on an expedited basis, calling the case time-sensitive.  

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