An unaffiliated candidate's name will not appear on the Pasquotank County ballot this November because many of the signatures on his filing petition did not meet election rules, a county official said

Thursday.

Tom Memolo (ENLARGE)

Tom Memolo, a 77-year-old retired Pasquotank County fire marshal, had submitted a petition in support of his candidacy for the Southern Outside seat on the Board of Commissioners. The seat, which represents Mt. Hermon, Nixonton and Salem townships, is currently held by Bill Trueblood, a Democrat who defeated Clyde Weeks in his party's primary in May.

Memolo needed to gather 281 signatures in order to make the ballot. While he claimed to have obtained more than 340 signatures, election officials later determined some of them to be invalid because they either came from residents outside the Southern Outside district or from residents not registered to vote.

"Originally, he had enough signatures," said Bonnie Godfrey, Pasquotank deputy elections director. "After checking, we found some to not be in the district in which he was running."

According to Godfrey, Memolo's petition had 200 valid signatures, well short of the number needed. As a result, Memolo does not qualify to have his name appear on the ballot.

Godfrey said Memolo does not face any kind of sanction for obtaining the invalid signatures. She said his disqualification from the ballot cannot be appealed.

Memolo said Thursday he was not aware at the time the petition was launched that voters who signed it needed to live in the Southern Outside district. He said he was disappointed to learn he would not appear on the ballot.

"It upset me a little," Memolo said. "I'm really down and out, but it isn't going to stop me."

He said he would continue to advocate for seniors issues and lower taxes as a citizen. He is interested in running for an at-large seat on the commission board the next time one is up for election in two years.

"I can't say that I'm disappointed," Trueblood said of Memolo being disqualified from the fall ballot. "I feel confident we can move forward."

Meanwhile, Memolo said he plans to urge voters to support him as a write-in candidate.

Godfrey said Memolo's name can be written in on the November ballot provided he files a declaration of intent with 100 valid signatures by Aug. 6.

The signatures have to be from registered voters in the Southern Outside district. They also have to be on a petition different from the one he submitted to get his name on the ballot, officials said.