Justia Election Law Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court granted a limited writ sought by Relators - Sanduskians for Sandusky and Craig McCloskey II - ordering Respondents - the City of Sandusky and city commission members - to enact an ordinance providing for submission of a proposed charter amendment to Sandusky's electors, holding that Relators were entitled to a limited writ.Relators requested a writ of mandamus ordering Respondents to certify a charter amendment petition for a vote by Sandusky's electors at the November 8, 2022 general election and further sought a writ of mandamus ordering Erie County Board of Elections to place the proposed charter amendment on the November 8, 2022 general election ballot. The Supreme Court granted a limited writ ordering the enactment of an ordinance providing for submission of the proposed amendment at a special election to take place within certain time parameters and conditioned the writ on the Erie County Board of Elections certifying that the charter-amendment petition contained sufficient valid signatures to qualify for submission to the electors, holding that Ohio Rev. Code 731.31 did not apply to Relators' petition to amend Section 25 of the Sandusky Charter. View "State ex rel. Sanduskians for Sandusky v. City of Sandusky" on Justia Law

In this expedited election case the Supreme Court granted a writ of mandamus compelling Ohio Secretary of State Frank La Rose to certify Terpsehore P. Maras's name to the November 8, 2022 ballot as an independent candidate for Ohio Secretary of State, holding that Maras was entitled to the writ.On July 18, 2022, Secretary LaRose informed Maras that she had submitted a significant number of signatures and that her candidacy was certified to the November ballot. Justin Bis subsequently filed a protest against the certification of Maras's candidacy, challenging the validity of sixty-five of the petition signatures. A hearing officer sustained the protest as to eighteen signatures and recommended that Maras be decertified from the ballot. Secretary LaRose adopted most of the hearing officer's conclusions and decertified Maras from the ballot. Maras then filed this original action for a writ of mandamus. The Supreme Court granted relief, holding (1) the Secretary acted in clear disregard of applicable law when he refused to count certain verified signatures; and (2) because with the additional signatures the total number of petition signatures exceeded the threshold required for ballot access, the Secretary is ordered to certify Maras's name to the November 8 ballot as an independent candidate for Ohio Secretary of State. View "State ex rel. Maras v. LaRose" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied a writ of mandamus ordering Trumbull County Board of Elections and its director and Secretary of State Frank LaRose (collectively, Respondents) to place Sarah Thomas Kovoor's name on the November 8, 2022 general election ballot for the office of judge of the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas, holding that Relators were not entitled to relief.Relators, the Trumbull County Republican Central Committee and Kovoor, sought a writ of mandamus ordering Respondents to certify Kovoor to the November 2022 general election ballot. Secretary LaRose voted against certifying Kovoor as candidate. The Supreme Court denied the writ of mandamus, holding that Relators did not show a clear legal right to have Kovoor's name placed on the general election ballot as a candidate for the judge of the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas. View "State ex rel. Trumbull County Republican Central Committee v. Trumbull County Bd. of Elections" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied a writ sought by Relators, five electors of the city of Canal Winchester, to have a referendum on a zoning ordinance placed on the general election ballot, holding that that the ordinance was properly enacted as emergency legislation and was not subject to referendum.Canal Winchester, NorthPoint Development, LLC, and the owners of the property at issue entered into an agreement whereby the owners agreed to petition for annexation to the city and the city and developer agreed to take steps for the land to be rezoned for the proposed development. However, the owners reserved the right to undo the annexation if the city's zoning approval became subject to referendum. After the city passed a resolution accepting annexation of the land, the city passed a second ordinance as emergency legislation repealing the previous ordinance and rezoning the property to "planned industrial district." Relators then sought to have the ordnance placed on the November ballot for referendum. When their request was refused, Relators filed their complaint for a writ of mandamus to compel the petition to be transmitted to the Board. The Supreme Court denied the writ, holding holding that the referendum was not subject to referendum and that the ordinance satisfied Ohio Rev. Code 731.30. View "State ex rel. Halstead v. Jackson" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court granted a writ of prohibition and denied as moot a writ of mandamus sought by protestors - the village of Moscow and its mayor - to keep a petition to surrender the corporate powers of the village off the November 2022 ballot, holding that the protestors were entitled to a writ of prohibition based on Ohio Code 703.20(A) and (B)(1).The protestors of the petition to surrender the village's corporate powers commenced this original action for writs of prohibition and mandamus after the board of elections voted to deny the protest. The Supreme Court granted the request for a writ of prohibition, holding that the protestors were entitled to a writ of prohibition reversing the board's certification of the surrender petition to the November ballot because the board's decision to approved the surrender petition for placement on the ballot was contrary to law. View "State ex rel. Moscow v. Clermont County Bd. of Elections" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court granted a limited writ of mandamus ordering the City of Twinburg, City Clerk of Council Shannon Collins, and Law Director Matt Vazzana (collectively, the City) to transmit a referendum petition to the Summit County Board of Elections, holding that Collins had a ministerial duty to transmit the petition to the Board.At issue was Resolution No. 57-2022, a resolution to confirm the Twinsburg Planning Commission's approval of a final site plan for a proposed development. Clark and three other petitioners filed a referendum petition seeking to place the resolution on the November 8, 2022 general election ballot. After she was advised that the resolution was not subject to referendum, Lynn Clark brought this action seeking a writ of mandamus requiring the City to transmit the referendum petition to the Board. The Supreme Court granted a limited writ, holding that it was not necessary to address whether Resolution No. 57-2022 was subject to referendum because Clark established a right to the requested relief, and Collins had a duty to provide it. View "State ex rel. Clark v. Twinsburg" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied a writ of mandamus sought by F. Patrick Cunnane and Mary E. Cunnane to compel Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose to certify their names to the ballot, holding that the Cunnanes failed to establish that they were entitled to the writ.The Cunnanes filed a joint nominating petition to appear on Ohio's general election ballot in November 2022 as independent candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor. Secretary of State Frank LaRose rejected their nominating petition on the grounds that, in his view, they could not claim to be unaffiliated from a political party when they each cast a partisan ballot in the May 2022 primary election. The Cunnanes subsequently brought this mandamus action. The Supreme Court denied the writ, holding that the Cunnanes did not meet their burden of proving that Secretary LaRose abused his discretion when he declined to certify them as independent candidates. View "State ex rel. Cunnane v. LaRose" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied the writ of mandamus sought by Brian Ames, a candidate for the Republican Party State Central Committee for Senate District 28 in the August 2022 primary election, holding that Ames was not entitled to the writ.Ames brought this expedited election matter asking for a writ of mandamus requiring Secretary of State Frank LaRose to direct three count boards of elections to "challenge" electors who requested a ballot for a party other than the other for which the elector voted in the May 2022 primary election. Ames further requested that ballots cast in the August primary be "segregated according to the party for which the elector voted in May" and that ballots cast for a different party not be counted. The Supreme Court denied the writ, holding (1) the writ was moot as to Secretary LaRose; and (2) as to the boards of elections, the writ is denied because Ames was not entitled to the relief he sought. View "State ex rel. Ames v. LaRose" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court ordered the General Assembly to pass a new congressional-district plan that complied with the Ohio Constitution, holding that the plan adopted by the Ohio Redistricting Commission on March 2, 2022 unduly favored the Republican Party and disfavored the Democratic Party in violation of Ohio Const. art. XIX, 1(C)(3)(a).On January 14, 2022, the Supreme Court held that the congressional-district plan passed by the General Assembly was invalid in its entirety and directed the General Assembly to adopt a new plan that complied with Article XIX. After the redistricting commission adopted the March 2 plan, Petitioners filed original actions challenging the plan. The Supreme Court granted the petition, holding that the March 2 plan did not comply with Article XIX, section 1(C)(3)(a) of the Ohio Constitution and was therefore invalid. View "Santomauro v. McLaughlin" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied the claims brought by Erik Jones in this expedited election case, holding that Jones was not entitled to a writ of mandamus based on the doctrine of laches.Jones filed a declaration of candidacy and petition to appear on the August 2, 2022 primary ballot as a candidate for the Republican Party State Central Committee, but the Lorain County Board of Elections did not certify his name to the ballot based on the instructions in Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose's Directive 2022-34 to reject declarations and petitions filed after February 2, 2022 by state-central-committee-member candidates. Jones subsequently sought a writ of mandamus compelling LaRose to instruct the county boards of elections to accept declarations of candidacy filed before May 4, 2022. The Supreme Court denied the claims, holding that Jones's unreasonable delay in bringing this lawsuit resulted in prejudice to the Board in its administration of the election. View "State ex rel. Jones v. LaRose" on Justia Law