Erik Wells officially filed to run for Kanawha County Clerk, Monday.
Wells, a former Democratic state senator and husband of Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, submitted about 1,000 signatures to voters registration, along with his certificate of announcement and filing fee.
If enough of Wells signatures are accepted, he will be placed on the ballot for the November election as an independent candidate. He needs about 600 signatures to qualify.
The county clerk's office will begin validating the signatures Tuesday.
Wells is estimating that about 10 percent won't be accepted because of illegible signatures.
Wells decided to run for county clerk a little more than a week ago, citing recent problems with people voting in the wrong delegate and senate districts.
"This process is really democracy at its best," Wells said. "That it requires citizens to put their name on the ballot to effect change."
Opponents of Wells' campaign question whether there's a conflict if the secretary of state and the clerk for the largest county in the state are married.
Wells was unable to run as a Democrat because he missed the January 30 filing deadline.
Instead, he had to gather signatures from one percent of the number of people who voted in 2010's county clerk election and run as a non-affiliated candidate.
He will appear on the ballot, but there will be an "I" next to his name instead of a "D."
Reach Daniel Desrochers at dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or follow @drdesrochers on Twitter.