Paullin To Call It Quits - Possibilities that Trenton's recent mayoralty election would become a constitutional test case fizzled today, because of insufficient funds. Charles B. Paullin this morning said he doubted that his supporters could muster enough money to appeal Common Pleas Judge Fred B. Cramer's dismissal yesterday of Paullin's plea that the Butler County Board of Elections be forced to certify his election. Paullin claims to have received more write-in votes than the printed name of his opponent, Harry Stretcher. Judge Cramer said the intention of the Ohio General Assembly was to outlaw write-in votes when at least one candidate has filed for a non-partisan office...

Certification of Charles Paullin as mayor of Trenton appeared today to hinge on the constitutionality of a recent state law eliminating write-in votes. Paullin claims to have received 147 votes, Tuesday while only 127 votes were marked for the printed name of incumbent Harry Stretcher. Attorney Fred Ross today was to file a petition asking the court of common pleas to force the Board of Elections to count the votes. The petition stated the board had "failed to perform a specific duty which is imposed upon them according to the law." The statute covering non-partisan elections allows no space on the ballot for write-ins. It does not say what the board should do if a candidate’s name is penciled in anyway...

More Inspection Men Said Needed - For every 19 Middletown votes cast Tuesday, one election worker was needed to guide ballots through a smooth trip from pads to locked metal boxes to counting tables to Board of Elections offices. Not all trips, however, were smooth. From 5 to 10 on election eve, county board member Martin Coyle and Frank Dobroszi, deputy clerk here, hopped from precinct to precinct, seeking the bumps that annually jar the movement of returns. They sought to discover the snags that, for example, made one unit fail to report in the 1952 Presidential campaign until 5 p.m. of the Wednesday following election day. Similar difficulties were not expected, of course, in this week’s local vote. But as he made his check, Coyle pointed out: "If we don't get things working right this year, we'll really be in trouble in 1954..."

Ohio's first clear test of a new law eliminating write-in votes emerged in Trenton yesterday when Charles B. Paullin, unlisted on the ballot, received more pencilled X's for mayor than the printed name of incumbent Harry Stretcher. Although the Board of Elections did not release the figures, it was understood that Paullin polled 149 votes to Stretcher's 127. Paullin, a Hamilton paper worker, reported this morning that he intends to "go on through with it" and press for a certificate of election from the board. The law, in effect since Jan. 1, 1952, states that no space on the ballot be provided for write-ins and that no write-ins be counted. Indications were that Paullin may go to the courts and request they force the board to certify his election. Officials yesterday were not sure what the courts' action would be in such an event...