DocketNumber: No. 79AP-794
Citation Numbers: 421 N.E.2d 162, 66 Ohio App. 2d 102
Judges: McCORMAC, J.
Filed Date: 11/1/1979
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 1/13/2023
Relators, Anthony T. Taylor, Sr., and his nominating committee, Melvin Cramer, Robert W. Ussery and Addie M. Jewell, have commenced a mandamus action in this court seeking an order requiring respondent, the Franklin County Board of Elections, to place the name of Anthony T. Taylor, Sr., on the November 6, 1979, general election ballot in Prairie Township, Franklin County, Ohio, for the office of township trustee.
The parties have agreed that the court should decide the case on the pleadings, as the facts are not in dispute; and, it is necessary that a prompt decision be rendered to prevent the issue from becoming moot. *Page 103
Paul A. Wagner had been nominated as a candidate for Prairie Township Trustee and his name would have appeared on the ballot for the November 6, 1979, election except that he died on October 5, 1979. In Wagner's nominating petitions, he had designated Melvin Cramer, Robert W. Ussery and Addie M. Jewell as "a committee to represent" him. After his death, that committee of three unanimously designated Anthony T. Taylor, Sr., to fill the vacancy created by the death of Wagner. Taylor notified the Franklin County Board of Elections that he had accepted that nomination. However, the board of elections, on Monday, October 22, 1979, refused to place Taylor's name on the November 6, 1979, ballot for the sole reason that he had not been nominated by a committee of five, it being clear that Taylor otherwise was eligible to replace Wagner as a candidate.
The sole issue is whether Anthony T. Taylor, Sr., has a clear legal right to be placed on the November 6, 1979, ballot in Prairie Township, Franklin County, Ohio, as a candidate for Prairie Township Trustee to fill the vacancy created by the death of Paul A. Wagner.
The applicable statute, providing for replacement of Wagner, is R. C.
"If a person nominated by petition as a candidate for election at the next general election dies prior to the tenth day before the day of such general election, the vacancy so created may be filled by the committee of five designated in such nominating petition to represent the candidate named therein. To fill such vacancy the members of such committee, or a majority of them, shall not later than the fifth day before the day of such general election, file with the election officials with whom the petition nominating such person was filed, a certificate signed and sworn to under oath by each of them, designating the person they select to fill such vacancy. Such certification must be accompanied by the written acceptance of such nomination by the person whose name is so certified."
The nomination of Taylor and his acceptance complied with R. C.
Since the defect, if any, in the committee to replace the deceased candidate occurred in the committee designation portion of Wagner's nominating petition, it is necessary to consider the statutory requirements that applied to Wagner in regard to designating a committee in his nominating petition.
R. C.
"The form of the nominating petition and statement of candidacy shall be substantially as follows:
"I, . . . . ., hereby constitute the persons named below a committee to represent me:
"Name Residence ". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."
The number of persons to be designated as the committee is not specifically stated, although there are five unnumbered blanks for signatures. Moreover, candiates were not informed by the Secretary of State or board of elections of a requirement to designate five committee members. Wagner's nominating petitions were not rejected by the board of elections on the basis that only three committee members were named.
R. C.
"We hereby constitute the persons named below a committee to represent said candidate:
G. C. 5000, provided that "[s]igners of such nomination papers shall insert in them the names and addresses of such persons as they desire to the number of five as a committee who may fill vacancies caused by death or withdrawal." (Emphasis added.) G.C. 5000 was repealed by the 88th General Assembly (see 113 Ohio Laws 412), and no similar provision has since been enacted.
In State, ex rel. Minor, v. Curtis (1920),
"* * * [P]ublic policy * * * favors free competitive elections * * * [where] the electorate has * * * [an] opportunity to make a choice between candidates * * *."Stern v. Bd. of Elections (1968),
R. C.
The Franklin County Board of Elections has a clear legal duty to place Anthony T. Taylor, Sr., on the November 6, 1979, general election ballot in Prairie Township, Franklin County, Ohio, for the office of township trustee. A writ of mandamus shall be issued forthwith.
Writ allowed.
WHITESIDE and MOYER, JJ., concur.