Filling Out and Circulating an Ohio Nominating Petition

By Beacon Team November 4, 2026 8 min read

Part of a guide This article is part of Ohio Nominating Petitions: A 2027 Guide for Local Candidates, our full treatment of nominating petitions in Ohio.

A woman writes on a clipboard while standing against a gray wall

An Ohio petition paper has four parts: the candidate's section at the top, a committee section on the nonpartisan form, the signer lines, and the circulator's statement at the bottom. The candidate completes the top before any voter signs. Each voter signs their own line in ink and adds the date and their registered address. The circulator (the person collecting the signatures) witnesses every signature, then writes the number of signatures on the paper and signs a statement under penalty of election falsification. No notary is involved. All of your papers are then filed together, with your fee, by 4 p.m. on your deadline: Wednesday, February 3, 2027 or Wednesday, August 4, 2027, depending on your office.

This post follows those steps in order, using the forms in the Ohio Revised Code (ORC 3513.07 and 3513.261) and the general petition rules in ORC 3501.38. Follow the labels on the form your board gives you. For signature numbers, deadlines and protests, see our guide to Ohio nominating petitions.

Step 1: Get the right form from your county board

Ohio uses two candidate petition forms. Cities that nominate by party primary use a declaration of candidacy followed by a petition signed by members of your party (ORC 3513.07). Township, board of education, village and nonpartisan city candidates use a statement of candidacy followed by a nominating petition (ORC 3513.261).

Get your forms from your county board of elections within 90 days of your filing deadline. If a board distributes a form that does not meet the law, it will not invalidate an otherwise valid petition for that reason, but only if the candidate received the form from the board within 90 days of the deadline (ORC 3501.38(L)).

Each paper may hold signatures from only one county; if a paper mixes counties, only the signatures from the county with the majority are counted (ORC 3513.05, 3513.261). If your district crosses a county line, mark each paper with its county before it goes out.

Step 2: Complete the candidate section before anyone signs

A hand signs a printed paper form with a pen on a wooden desk

The top of the paper tells every signer who you are and what office you are seeking. Fill it in completely before any voter signs.

On the party primary form, the declaration of candidacy asks for your name, your voting residence (precinct, township or ward and city or village, and county), your street address, your party, the office or nomination you seek, full or unexpired term, and the date of the primary. It includes your pledge that, if elected, you will qualify for the office and support the principles of your party, and you date and sign it under penalty of election falsification (ORC 3513.07).

On the nonpartisan form, the statement of candidacy asks for your name, your voting residence and precinct, your post-office address, the office, the district or subdivision, full or unexpired term, and the date of the general election. You declare that you are an elector qualified to vote for the office, then date and sign it (ORC 3513.261).

If your nonpartisan petition has several papers, you sign the statement on one of them. The signed statement must then be copied onto every other paper "before the signatures of electors are placed on it" (ORC 3513.261). In practice, complete one master, copy it onto each paper, and confirm every paper is complete before handing it to a circulator.

The committee section

The nonpartisan form includes a space to name a committee of people to represent you, with each member's residence (ORC 3513.261). Some charters require it; Columbus requires a five-person nominating committee. Ask your board whether your office needs one. On any form, write your name, address, office and committee exactly the same way on every paper.

Step 3: The signer lines

Each line belongs to one voter. The statutory forms have columns for the signature; the street address or R.F.D. (the form says to use the address on file with the board of elections); the city, village or township; ward; precinct; county; and the date of signing. The rules for each line come from ORC 3501.38 and 3503.06:

In ink. "Signatures shall be affixed in ink." The signer may also print their name next to the signature so it can be read (ORC 3501.38(B)).
Their own name only. No one may sign for another person, including a spouse or a parent (ORC 3501.38(D)).
The date and the registered address. Each signer adds the date of signing and their voting address, and the address must be the one in the board's registration records (ORC 3501.38(C)). A newer address the voter has not yet updated with the board will not match.
A qualified signer. The signer must be registered and live in a precinct where your race will appear (ORC 3503.06(B)). On a party primary petition, the signer must also be a member of your party, which Ohio defines by primary voting over the last two calendar years (ORC 3513.05).
Once. If a person signs twice, only the first signature counts (ORC 3501.38(D)).

Many voters do not know their ward or precinct. Because ORC 3501.38(C) has each signer place the date and their voting address on the petition, ask your board how it treats ward and precinct entries, and give circulators one consistent instruction.

Step 4: The circulator's statement

A blank clipboard and a pencil on a wooden table

The bottom of each paper is the circulator's statement. On the statutory forms, the circulator gives their name, declares that they are a qualified elector of Ohio, writes the number of signatures on the paper, and declares that they witnessed every signature, that the signers were qualified to the best of their knowledge, and that each signature is genuine. They then sign and give the address of their permanent residence in Ohio.

On the party primary form, the circulator also declares their party membership (ORC 3513.07). Each statement is made "under penalty of election falsification" (ORC 3501.38(E)), and every paper carries the printed warning that election falsification is a fifth-degree felony. There is no notary step.

Complete the statement after the last signature, counting the lines carefully. A circulator must be an Ohio resident who is at least 18 (ORC 3503.06(C)). Because the statement asks the circulator to declare they are a qualified elector of Ohio, registered Ohio voters are the simplest choice. On a party primary petition, each paper is circulated by one person only, who must be the candidate or a member of the candidate's party (ORC 3513.05).

Step 5: Circulating, with the rules that protect each paper

A few habits keep papers valid while they are out:

Keep the paper in hand. The circulator must witness every signature. Never leave a paper on a counter, in a break room or with a friendly neighbor to collect signatures later.
Never let anyone sign for someone else. If a circulator knowingly permits an unqualified person to sign, or permits someone to write another person's name, the whole paper is invalid, not just that line (ORC 3501.38(F)).
Strike problems before filing. A circulator may strike any signature they do not wish to present (ORC 3501.38(G)), and a signer may strike their own name, but only before the petition is filed (ORC 3501.38(H)).

Give each circulator a one-page summary of these rules and check their first paper yourself. Our general post on recruiting and training petition circulators uses Illinois examples, but its approach to briefing volunteers works in Ohio too.

Step 6: Plan the drive door to door

Aerial view of a suburban intersection with houses, yards and trees

Door-to-door collection suits an Ohio petition. Working from a list of households in your district, each signer's address is already placed inside the district, and a circulator whose area sits in one county keeps their papers in one county.

This is where Beacon helps. Draw each circulator's turf on the map, inside the district and inside one county, and assign it. Add your contacts, and when a circulator downloads their walk list, the stops are in walking order by distance. Beacon routes circulators door to door and records which doors were visited and the result at each one: contacted, not home, refused, come back later and the other door codes. At each door, the circulator can note "signed" or "not signed" in the door result's Notes field. Send circulators back to the not-home doors before opening new turf. The signed paper is the only legal record of each signature; Beacon keeps the record of the doors. Every plan includes unlimited canvassers, so you can add circulators without changing your price.

Step 7: Review every paper, then file once

Before filing day, review each paper:

The candidate section is complete and identical on every paper.
Every line has a signature, a date and a full address inside the district, and each paper holds one county only.
The number on each circulator's statement matches the lines on that paper, and the statement is signed.
Doubtful lines are struck, and your total stays under three times the minimum.

To confirm your minimum and the cap for your office, see how many signatures you need to run for office in Ohio.

File everything at once. All papers, and on the February track your declaration of candidacy, are filed at the same time as one instrument (ORC 3513.05, 3501.38(K)), with your fee, at your county board of elections by 4 p.m. on your deadline. Once filed, nothing on the petition can be altered, corrected or added to (ORC 3501.38(I)). Keep a copy of every paper.

After you file

A person in a checked shirt signs a printed document at a wooden table

Protests against your petition are due by the 74th day before the election: 4 p.m. on Friday, February 19, 2027 on the February track, and Friday, August 20, 2027 on the August track (both based on state law; confirm with your board). Keep those days clear.

A signature on your petition is not permission to text the signer. If you want to text supporters, keep a separate sign-up sheet, never the petition paper itself, that says plainly the person agrees to receive campaign texts and records the date. Only people who agreed that way should get texts. CampaignCNX+, a separate texting product, handles those texts, and its guide to running for local office in Ohio covers the campaign that follows filing.

Put your petition turf on a map

A correctly completed paper still has to reach the right voters. Beacon puts each circulator's turf on a map and keeps a record of every door, with unlimited canvassers on every plan. Start a 14-day trial and set up your first turf before your deadline.