The names of five candidates running for three seats on Glasgow’s Board of Aldermen will not appear on April 4 ballot after the Missouri Ethics Commission found they did not file financial interest statements by the January 17 deadline.

By law, the statements are to be filed within 14 days of the filing period’s closing date to avoid a daily fee and 21 days of the closing date to remain on the ballot. The filing period lasted from December 6 through 27, which means the statements were required to be filed no later than January 17.

A fee of $10 is assessed for each candidate who fails to file a financial interest statement within the 14-day period. According to state election rules, those who do not file by the 21st day are removed from the ballot.

Central Ward candidate Renna Bean, North Ward candidates Michael Carter and Susan Freese, and South Ward candidates Aaron Gouge and Jason Wright are now disqualified from the election. Bean, Freese, and Gouge are all incumbents. Larry Neville, running for Mayor of Glasgow, filed his statement with the commission and will remain on the ballot.

Missouri Revised Statute 105.492.2 states: “If a candidate for office does not file a financial interest statement by the close of business on the twenty-first day after the last day for filing for election for which the person is a candidate, the commission shall notify the official who accepted such candidate’s declaration of candidacy that the candidate is disqualified. Such election official shall remove the candidate’s name from the ballot.”

A spokesman at the Missouri Secretary of State’s office told the Advertiser on Tuesday that the five candidates can still run as write-in candidates but must still file the financial interest statements with the ethics commission. The deadline to file as a write-in candidate is March 24, two weeks before the election. 

However, since no other candidates have filed for those seats and therefore will not be listed on ballots, and if nobody officially files as a write-in candidate for those seats, they may bypass that step altogether.

In that case, voters in those wards would be allowed to circle the “write-in” selection under that race on the ballot, then correctly hand write the candidate’s name, with correct spelling, in the provided blank.

This matter is only affecting the race for Glasgow’s city council. All candidates for other city council seats around Howard County have filed the appropriate paperwork with the ethics commission.