Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 3513
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 3513.262 (2026)

Filing deadline for nominating petitions

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORCcodes.ohio.gov (official) Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
Effective:
June 16, 2026
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 63 - 136th General Assembly
PDF:
Download Authenticated PDF
 

The nominating petitions of all candidates required to be filed before four p.m. of the day before the day of the primary election immediately preceding the general election shall be processed as follows:

If such petition is filed with the secretary of state, the secretary of state shall, not later than the fifteenth day of June following the filing of such petition, or if the primary election was a presidential primary election, not later than the end of the sixth week after the day of that election, transmit to each board such separate petition papers as purport to contain signatures of electors of the county of such board. If such petition is filed with the board of the most populous county of a district or of a county in which the major portion of the population of a subdivision is located, such board shall, not later than the fifteenth day of June, or if the primary election was a presidential primary election, not later than the end of the sixth week after the day of that election, transmit to each board within such district such separate petition papers of the petition as purport to contain signatures of electors of the county of such board.

All petition papers so transmitted to a board and all nominating petitions filed with a board are public records subject to disclosure under section 149.43 of the Revised Code. Upon receiving a public records request for petition papers and petitions accompanying nominating petitions as described in this section, the board shall, as soon as practicable, make available for public inspection, or provide copies of, the petition papers and nominating petitions, in electronic or paper form as specified by the requester, whether or not the petitions have been modified or marked upon or the petition's signatures have been certified as valid by the board. Each board shall, not later than the next fifteenth day of July, or if the primary election was a presidential primary election, not later than the end of the tenth week after the day of that election, examine and determine the sufficiency of the signatures on the petition papers transmitted to or filed with it, and the validity of the petitions filed with it, and shall return to the secretary of state all petition papers transmitted to it by the secretary of state, together with its certification of its determination as to the validity or invalidity of signatures thereon, and shall return to each other board all petition papers transmitted to it by such other board, as provided in this section, together with its certification of its determination as to the validity or invalidity of signatures thereon. A signature on a nominating petition is not valid if it is dated more than one year before the date the nominating petition was filed. All other matters affecting the validity or invalidity of such petition papers shall be determined by the secretary of state or the board with whom such petition papers were filed.

Written protests against nominating petitions may be filed by any qualified elector eligible to vote for the candidate whose nominating petition the elector objects to, not later than four p.m. of the thirtieth day of July, or if the primary election was a presidential primary election, not later than the end of the twelfth week after the day of that election. Such protests shall be filed with the election officials with whom the nominating petition was filed. Upon the filing of such protest, the election officials with whom it is filed shall promptly fix the time and place for hearing it, and shall forthwith mail notice of the filing of such protest and the time and place for hearing it to the person whose nomination is protested. They shall also forthwith mail notice of the time and place fixed for the hearing to the person who filed the protest. At the time fixed, such election officials shall hear the protest and determine the validity or invalidity of the petition. Such determination shall be final.

A protest against the nominating petition filed by joint candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor shall be filed, heard, and determined in the same manner as a protest against the nominating petition of a candidate who files individually.

Last updated March 31, 2026 at 3:38 PM

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 23 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1955–2024 · leading case: Greg Jolivette v. Jon Husted.
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Greg Jolivette v. Jon Husted (6th Cir. 2012). · cites it 2× “2 (CompLf 14) (Page ID #5); Ohio Rev.Code § 3513.262. On May 16, 2012, the Butler County Board of Elections approved Jolivette’s petition, certified him to be on the ballot, and scheduled the protest hearing.”
State ex rel. Shumate v. Portage Cnty. Bd. of Elections (Ohio 1992). · cites it 4× “11(K) and certain language about protests in R.C. 3513.262 conferred authority on the board to judge the experience requirements, particularly in light of certain precedent, stating: “Those decisions clearly establish the authority of a board of elections to have, upon protest,…”
State ex rel. Brown v. Summit Cnty. Bd. of Elections (Ohio 1989). · cites it 3× “The board of elections refuses to certify relator’s nominating petition under R.C. 3513.262. 1 In State, ex rel. Moss, v.”
State ex rel. Tjaden v. Geauga Cty. Bd. of Elections (Ohio 2024). · cites it 4× “The Geauga board kept for its review the 12 part-petitions containing signatures of purported electors from Geauga County and, as required by R.C. 3513.262, it transmitted to the Ashtabula board for that board to review the 14 part-petitions containing signatures of purported…”
Foster v. Cuyahoga Cnty. Bd. of Elections (Ohio Ct. App. 1977). · cites it 2× “11, Revised Code, providing that each board of elections shall ‘review, examine, and certify the sufficiency and validity of petitions and nomination papers,’ and Section 3513.262, Revised Code, which provides that each board of elections shall ‘examine and determine the…”
State, Ex Rel. Krupa v. Green (Ohio Ct. App. 1961). · cites it 2× “n abuse of discretion or a clear disregard of statutes or legal provisions applicable thereto on the part of the Board of Elections of Cuyahoga County in disallowing the protest filed by the relator against the candidacy of Blanche Krupansky for Judge of the Cleveland Municipal…”
Duncan v. Husted (S.D. Ohio 2015). · cites it 4× “” O.R.C. § 3513.262. Under the amended statute, a signature on a nominating petition “is not valid if it is dated more than one year before the date the nominating petition was filed.”
Cripps v. Seneca Cnty. Bd. of Elections (N.D. Ohio 1985). “CODE *1340 § 3513.262, nominating petitions are not required to be examined by the Board of Elections until the 15th day of July.”
Jolivette v. Husted (S.D. Ohio 2012). · cites it 2× “On April 19, 2012, three individuals filed a protest, pursuant to Ohio Revised Code § 3513.262, against Plaintiffs candidacy for the office of State Representative for Ohio’s 51st House District, challenging his ability to run as an independent candidate.”
State ex rel. Maras v. LaRose (Slip Opinion) (Ohio 2022). · cites it 2× “{¶ 4} In accordance with R.C. 3513.262, Secretary LaRose transmitted Maras’s part-petitions to the respective county boards of elections for signature verification.”
State ex rel. Lippitt v. Cuyahoga Cnty. Bd. of Elections (Ohio 1978). · cites it 2× “In dis *72 missing relator’s appeal of an adverse decision by the Court of Appeals, this court, at page 324, held, inter alia, that “* * * Maranze, having failed to exhaust his statutory administrative remedy of filing a protest to the nominating petitions (see Section 3513.262…”
State ex rel. Maras v. LaRose (Ohio 2022). · cites it 2× “{¶ 4} In accordance with R.C. 3513.262, Secretary LaRose transmitted Maras’s part-petitions to the respective county boards of elections for signature verification.”
Show all 23 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.