7 days ago
Ohio Supreme Court throws Whitehall city council candidate off November ballot
The Ohio Supreme Court has thrown a Whitehall City Council candidate off the November ballot, saying she does not meet the residency requirements to run.
Holly Stein filed a petition in January to run as a candidate for Ward 4 in the November 2025 election, according to court records. The following month, Lori Elmore, a current member of the council, filed an objection and challenged whether Stein had lived in the ward for the two years before the election.
Whitehall's city charter requires a council member for any ward to have lived in that ward for "at least two years next preceding their election" and at-large candidates to have lived in the city for two years.
Related Whitehall article: Whitehall, council member file Ohio Supreme Court case to remove candidate from ballot
Elmore's challenge, court records say, included voting records that showed Stein lived in Licking County through 2023.
According to court records, Stein admitted to living in Licking County during 2023 but said that she had resided in Ward 4 between 2019 and 2022, returning in 2024. She argued that living in the ward for two years before the election, even though it was not the immediately preceding two years, qualified her for the ballot.
The Franklin County Board of Elections sided with Stein in a 3-1 vote and allowed her to proceed as a candidate.
Elmore and the city of Whitehall then asked the Ohio Supreme Court to issue an order barring Stein from appearing on the November 2025 ballot based on the failure to meet the residency requirements.
The high court issued a ruling on July 23, siding with the city and removing Stein's name from contention for council. All seven of the court's judges sided with Whitehall and Elmore.
Incumbent Devin Brown, who was appointed to the Ward 4 council seat in 2024, remains the only candidate on the November ballot for the seat.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@ or on Bluesky at @
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Supreme Court remove Whitehall council candidate from November election
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