BOE Rejects Independent Judicial Candidate; Reconsideration Hearing Possible
Geauga County Board of Elections (BOE) Regular Meeting - June 18, 2026
Meeting Info - Regular Meeting on June 18, 2026 at 9:00 am in the BOE Conference Room at 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite 004 (Basement), Chardon, OH, 44024. Attendance was in-person and virtual via MS Teams.
Public Comment Policy - The Board of Elections typically responds to questions about agenda items throughout the course of their meetings. Those exchanges are documented below as they occur.
Attendance: Present were:
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Board Chair - Dennis Pavella
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Board Member - Richard Piraino
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Board Member - Joan Windnagel
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Board Member - Janet Carson
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Director - Tyler Plants
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Deputy Director - Nora McGinnis
Candidates & Their Representatives: In person, judicial candidate-elect Abby Mueller King and her campaign treasurer, Susan Parker; potential independent judicial candidate Robert Faranacci and his counsel, Todd Peterson.
County Representatives: In person, Kristen Rine, Assistant County Prosecutor and Board Counsel; from Automated Data Processing (ADP), Frank Antenucci, Deputy Chief Administrator & Chief Information Security Officer, and Katelyn Cellitti, Operations Coordinator; from the Commissioners’ Office, Ron Weigle, Maintenance Director. Assistant County Administrator Mark Jimison participated online.
Others: Online, one member of the public and Ohio Secretary of State (SoS) Regional Liaison Dustin
Russell. In person, one member of the public and this Observer.
Call to Order - The meeting was called to order shortly after 9:00 am.
Minutes - Minutes for the Special Meetings on May 22, 2026, May 28, 2026 and June 4, 2026 were approved without edits. Mrs. Carson abstained from the June 4 , 2026 minutes due to her absence from the meeting.
Payment of Bills - Invoices totaling $8,228.75 were approved unanimously and included:
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$3,211.63 reimbursement to board members and staff for summer conference expenses
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$2,496.00 to Expert IT for Office 365 license renewal
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$1,844.00 to Geauga ADP for Dell Pro laptop (Precinct Election Official training)
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$230.00 to Ohio Association of Election Officials for training courses
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$213.37 to Chardon Oil for truck fuel
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$204.75 to Verizon Wireless for emergency cell phones
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$29.00 to staff for mileage reimbursement
Report from ADP – Mr. Antenucci introduced Katelyn Cellitti, ADP Operations Coordinator. Ms. Cellitti reported that ADP will manage the “destruction” of 95 poll pads that are no longer in service. As required by Section 12.05 of Secretary of State Directive 2025-44, Election Equipment and Voting Systems (PDF), the devices will be rendered unusable and any data contained on the devices will be appropriately destroyed. The Maintenance Department will assist with transport of the devices to ADP and with disposal of cases and non-electronic accessories.
Report from BOCC Maintenance - Mr. Weigle reported that he is obtaining quotes for required security measures and continues to fine-tune the building’s evacuation plan to ensure voters are able to safely evacuate from the basement BOE location in the event of an emergency.
Certification of Independent Candidate - Court of Common Pleas Judge, Probate Division
Observer Note: It was revealed during board discussion that Mr. Faranacci had submitted signatures using Form 3-J, Nominating Petition and Statement of Candidacy For Judge of the County Court instead of Form 3-H, Nominating Petition and Statement of Candidacy For County Office. Filing requirements for judicial offices are detailed in the Ohio Secretary of State’s 2026 Candidate Requirements Guide. The SoS website also includes a comprehensive listing of election-related Forms and Petitions.
The proceedings also reflected an unresolved question as to whether Mrs. Carson may participate in this certification decision, given that her spouse gathered signatures for the candidate. It has been asserted that the candidate has sufficient signatures even if those gathered by Mr. Carson are disregarded. See the May 22, 2026 Board of Elections Observer Report for additional information.
Mr. Pavella introduced a motion to remove petitions circulated by Terry Carson, spouse of board member Janet Carson. Mrs. Carson seconded the motion. Board counsel Kristen Rine interjected, first asking whether Mrs. Carson was participating and then advising that under ORC 3501.38, the board cannot modify what has been filed. The motion was withdrawn.
Mr. Pavella introduced a motion to consider the petitions of Robert Faranacci, who had filed as an independent candidate for the office of Court of Common Pleas Judge, Probate Division. Mr. Piraino seconded the motion. Mr. Faranacci was invited to address the board and initially deferred to his counsel, Todd Peterson. Mr. Peterson stated that, although Mr. Faranacci incorrectly used the “county judge” form, those signing the petitions were aware Mr. Faranacci was running for the Common Pleas Judge position. He indicated they have affidavits from signers to that effect and also referred to candidate material that was handed out to those signing the petitions.
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Mrs. Windnagel inquired why Mr. Faranacci had not run in the Primary Election. Mr. Faranacci indicated he desired to run as an independent candidate.
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Mr. Piraino said he appreciated Mr. Faranacci’s willingness to run for office but could not disregard that the incorrect form was used. He inquired how Mr. Faranacci came to use the incorrect form. Mr. Faranacci said he used the Secretary of State website, which he characterized as “confusing.” He chose the form that made sense to him as it referred to “county judge” whereas the other forms did not include a “judge’’ reference.
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Mrs. Windnagel acknowledged that Form 3-H does not use the term judge but went on to read aloud from the section of the 2026 Candidate Requirements Guide that specifies use of Form 3-J.
Mr. Peterson framed the issue as one of “form over substance” and opined that the board has discretion to approve Mr. Faranacci’s petitions even though the incorrect form had been used. Ms. Rine asserted that the error in form is a substantive issue.
The motion to consider Mr. Faranacci’s candidacy was denied, with Mrs. Windnagel and Mr. Piraino voting no, Mr. Pavella voting yes and Mrs. Carson abstaining. The validity or sufficiency of the gathered signatures was not examined.
Observer Note: Ohio Secretary of State Directive 2026-14, Section 14.06 allows for a reconsideration hearing at the board’s discretion. Ohio Secretary of State Directive 2026-05, Section 2.02, pages 10-12 provide guidance for conducting a Quasi Judicial Hearing, noting that “Others may review the board’s decision later, either the Secretary of State when breaking a tie vote or a court.”
Executive Session: - The Board voted by roll call to enter executive session under ORC 121.22(G)(1) to consider the evaluation/compensation of a public employee. The meeting was limited to the Board members. Upon returning to regular session at 10:10 a.m., two motions were passed:
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By unanimous vote, the board instructed staff to re-open the application for Republican Voter Registration Clerk.
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By 3-1 vote, with Mrs. Carson voting no, the board increased Director Plants’ salary from $65,000 to $70,000, marking the satisfactory completion of his employment probation period.
Following the executive session, the same member of the public and Mr. Russell rejoined the meeting online. Only this Observer remained in-person.
2026 Ohio Association of Election Officials (OAEO) Summer Conference Review - The Board offered generally positive comments about the conference, which was held June 8-9, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio.
It was noted that elections officials expressed concerns about HB472 and that the OAEO had written to Governor DeWine, urging him to veto the bill.
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Mr. Piraino said he did not agree with recent changes to Ohio law to provide only a 4 day grace period to receive military and overseas absentee ballots. He felt the previous law worked fine.
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Mr. Pavella agreed, but said he didn’t support creating different classes of voters. He believes the previous 10 day grace period worked well and should be available to all voters.
Public Comment: This Observer noted that misinformation is being spread that suggests only one party is being impacted by the reduced grace period. To provide clarity, the Board agreed to provide the party affiliation for the 20 Geauga absentee ballots that were rejected during the May 22, 2026 certification meeting.
Observer Comment: In a follow up email, Mr. Plants provided the breakdown of the 20 rejected absentee ballots as 11 Democratic ballots, 8 Republican ballots and 1 Issues Only ballot.
Updated Poll Pad Video - the Board voted 4-0 to authorize staff to seek a vendor to update their poll pad training video. Mr. Pavella emphasized that the video is proprietary and may not be used by others. Mr. Plants noted that the poll pad video is directly impacted by legislative changes and therefore will become obsolete much more readily.
Director’s Report - Tyler Plants reported:
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With the Commissioners actively working to sell county property at 470 Center Street, the BOE must find an alternate polling location, beginning with the 2027 election cycle. He was informed by Chardon Schools staff that polling locations were not allowed in any Chardon schools. The Board voted unanimously to have the matter addressed by Board counsel.
Mr. Piraino, referring to the disagreement between Board counsel Ms. Rine and Board member Mrs. Carson, opined that legal opinions should be available to all Board members and that each Board member should be free to make their own recusal decisions. In a 3-1 vote, with Mrs. Carson abstaining, the Board instructed Director Plants to request that Mrs. Carson receive the legal opinion being withheld by Ms. Rine. For background, see the May 22, 2026 Board of Elections Observer Report.
Deputy Director’s Report - Nora McGinnis reported she has been working on:
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3 sets of Board minutes plus bills for today’s meeting
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Election Administration Plan, which is due to the Secretary of State on July 6
She also passed out information about an August 7 Northeast Ohio Regional Meeting in Sandusky, Ohio.
Statewide Ballot Measures - Mr. Russell reported that the Secretary of State’s Office had anticipated 6-8 issues being on the November ballot. It now appears that only SJR 10, a General Assembly-initiated issue about photo ID for in-person voting, will be the only state level issue on the ballot.
Next Meeting: June/July 2026 potential reconsideration hearing for judicial candidate Robert Faranacci
July 16, 2026 at 9:00 am for regular meeting
Adjournment - 11:18 a.m.
Observer: Shelly Lewis
Editor: Rooney Moy
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: June 19, 2026
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