A judge has ruled Buffalo School Board President James Sampson does not have enough valid petition signatures to be on the ballot for the upcoming board election. Nine of Sampson's signatures were deemed invalid at a court hearing Wednesday morning. It's not clear whether he will appeal, but Republican Erie County Elections Commissioner Ralph Mohr says for now, Sampson is off the ballot for the May 3 election.
"We believe that we gave every benefit of the doubt to the candidate, as we do in all of these instances. In this case, Mr. Sampson just came up short," Mohr told WBFO.
Mohr says most of the disqualified signatures were ones where the voter was either unregistered or did not reside within the political unit. He says voters can still write-in Sampson's name on their ballots.
Board member Jay McCarthy was also in court Wednesday seeking a ruling on his petition. A judge ruled McCarthy does have enough valid signatures to be on the ballot in the North District race.
