SARANAC LAKE — The landscape of the ballot for the March 18 village board election has shifted a bit, after the independent petitions for several candidates for trustee and mayor were invalidated.

Challenges to some of the signatures on the petitions were successful, which dropped the total count of signatures below the 100 threshold needed to get on the ballot.

Joshua King will not appear on the ballot, but is continuing to run as a write-in candidate.

Incumbent Mayor Jimmy Williams and trustee candidate Katie Stiles will only appear on the Republican Party line after their independent petitions were invalidated.

Trustee Kelly Brunette, who is running for the mayor’s seat, as well as trustee candidates Harrietstown Councilman Jeremy Evans and David Trudeau will all appear on the Democratic line as well as the independent “Affordability Civility and Transparency (ACT)” party line.

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Petitions

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King, an independent, had received the Republican Party endorsement at a caucus last month. He was not at the caucus and later declined the endorsement. He had also sought the Democratic endorsement, but did not get that line because Evans and Trudeau got more votes at that caucus.

He fell just shy of getting the independent “Common Ground” party line on the ballot. He gathered 115 signatures, according to the Franklin County Board of Elections. There were objections to 36 of these, resulting in 17 of them being invalidated. He only missed the 100-signature threshold by two signatures.

So now, he’s continuing as a write-in candidate.

“Luckily, my name’s easy to spell,” King said.

Because he will not be on the ballot, King will not be able to participate in the March 4 candidate forum the Enterprise and Adirondack Voters for Change are hosting at the town hall. But Enterprise coverage of the election will continue to include King.

“I’m not giving up on this,” he said. “I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing it for the village residents.”

To vote for a write-in candidate, look at the top of the ballot to find the position you want to vote for, go to the bottom of the page where a “write-in” section is clearly marked and write a name inside the box. New York clarifies that what matters in a write-in is “voter intent,” which means it doesn’t matter if names are misspelled as long as election workers can tell who you mean.

Any markings on the ballot need to be inside the box — the machine won’t read anything outside the box.

A voter in this election will be able to vote for up to two trustees. Ballots which have two trustees on party lines bubbled in, as well as a write-in vote, will be invalidated.

King said it was “disheartening” that a sitting board member objected to his petition.

Williams and Stiles, both independents who earned the Republican endorsement, will be on the ballot on the GOP line. Their petitions for the independent “Independent SL” and independent “Integrity for Saranac Lake” party lines, respectively, were invalidated.

Williams gathered 108 signatures, according to the Franklin County Board of Elections. There were objections to 44 of these, resulting in 14 of them being invalidated. He only missed the 100-signature threshold by four signatures.

Stiles gathered 108 signatures, according to the Franklin County Board of Elections. There were objections to 16 of these, resulting in 11 of them being invalidated. She only missed the 100-signature threshold by three signatures.

Brunette is on the Democratic line and the independent “Affordability Civility and Transparency (ACT)” party line. She earned the Democratic line after party members chose her over Williams 152-63 at a caucus last month.

She’s sharing a platform with Evans and Trudeau. The three got the Democratic endorsement at a caucus last month. They are all registered Democrats. They will also appear on the ballot under the “Affordability Civility and Transparency (ACT)” party line.

The three of them each collected 135 signatures, and none were invalidated, according to the Franklin County Board of Elections.

Trustee Matt Scollin, who initially intended to run, dropped out of the race earlier this month.

“After much consultation with my kids and dog, I’ve decided not to seek reelection to the village board,” Scollin told the Enterprise. “I don’t have anything more to say about it at this time, but expect I will in the weeks to come. It’s been a journey and an honor.”

To read more about Brunette’s candidacy, go to tinyurl.com/3d6dr8up and tinyurl.com/bddxzecd. To read more about Williams’ candidacy, go to tinyurl.com/2wjn78j5 and tinyurl.com/bddxzecd.

To read more about Trudeau’s candidacy, go to tinyurl.com/2dfnsfmn. To read more about Evans’ candidacy, go to tinyurl.com/465y3a55. To read more about King’s candidacy, go to tinyurl.com/36dr5sv4. To read more about Stiles’ candidacy, go to tinyurl.com/4cd5pkwb.

The village’s proposed public safety building project at 33 Petrova Ave. looms large over the race. Most statements from candidates for the three village seats relate to, reference or are directly about the project.

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Forum

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The Enterprise and Adirondack Voters for Change are hosting a candidate forum with the candidates.

The forum will be held on March 4 in the Harrietstown Town Hall auditorium at 5:30 p.m.

The Enterprise is soliciting questions for the moderators to ask the candidates from the public. Suggestions can be sent to jgereau@adirondackdailyenterprise.com with the subject line “Candidate Forum.”

The moderators will select questions from this batch, and include some of their own. Candidates will not be given the questions ahead of time.

There will be separate parts of the forum for the mayor and trustee races. All announced candidates have said they’ll attend the forum.

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Election information

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Voting in the election will be held on March 18 in the Harrietstown Town Hall auditorium at 39 Main St. from noon to 9 p.m.

The filing deadline for independent candidates was Feb. 10. Candidates needed 100 signatures to get the party line.

The last day to register to vote is March 6. Registering to vote can be done at the Department of Motor Vehicles, online at tinyurl.com/bdfaj9ze or by printing a form found at tinyurl.com/5yxvhtdh, filling it out and mailing it to the county board of elections office.

More information for the Franklin County Board of Elections can be found at tinyurl.com/bdbzacv2. More information for the Essex County Board of Elections can be found at essexcountyny.gov/board-of-elections.

The last day to apply for an absentee ballot is March 10. The last day for the village clerk to mail out an absentee ballot is March 11.