Brunner will decide if Independent candidates are really Republicans

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Akron - The Ohio secretary of state will decide whether six candidates for Cuyahoga Falls Municipal Court clerk can appear on the November ballot.

Summit County Democrats say the six, running as independents, are really Republicans trying to siphon votes from Democratic incumbent Lisa Zeno Carano. The move is illegal and all should be kept off the November ballot, Democrats say.

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Republican Party Chairman Alex Arshinkoff admits that GOP workers prepared the nominating petitions for the six candidates at the party headquarters. Like the Democratic incumbent, all of the disputed six are women. Most use a three-word name.

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Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, will cast the deciding vote after the elections board members Tuesday split 2-2 along party lines on a vote to certify the candidates to the ballot. Republicans favored putting the six on the ballot, while Democrats voted against.

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