IRONTON — Current Ironton City Councilman Ralph “Butch” Huff said Thursday he intends to run for re-election as a write-in candidate in the November general election.

Huff’s announcement comes less than a week after his petition for re-election was disallowed by the Lawrence County Board of Elections.

The four-member board unanimously ruled Huff had not obtained the minimum number of 50 valid signatures needed to certify his petition for Ironton City Council.

Should Huff file by the Sept. 2 deadline, he would join six potential candidates whose names have already been certified to run for the four soon-to-be-open council seats on the Nov. 3 ballot.

They include incumbents Bob Cleary, Leo Johnson and Mike Lutz along with former councilman Hugh Scott, former Ironton Police officer Beth Rist and long-time Irontonian Dave Frazer.

In order to run as a write-in, potential candidates need to complete and file the necessary paperwork along with a $30 filing fee with the Lawrence County Board of Elections.

Write-in candidates are not required to solicit or submit signature petitions, however their name does not appear on the physical ballot and instead must be written in by voters.