Summary
The Supreme Court of Ohio dismissed Constance Gadell-Newton’s mandamus action seeking a declaration that digital ballot images are public records and an order requiring their preservation. The court held that the requested relief was in the nature of a prohibitory injunction, over which it lacked original jurisdiction, and therefore did not reach the substantive public-records or federal preservation issues.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the complaint properly invoked the Supreme Court of Ohio's original jurisdiction in mandamus.
- Whether a request to prevent election officials from destroying digital ballot images constitutes prohibitory injunctive relief rather than mandamus in the nature of a mandatory injunction.
- Whether the court should decide whether digital ballot images are public records under Ohio law or records subject to the federal election-record preservation statute.
Holdings
- A complaint seeking to prevent future destruction of digital ballot images seeks prohibitory injunctive relief, not mandamus relief within the Supreme Court of Ohio's original jurisdiction; therefore, the complaint must be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
- The court declined to decide whether digital ballot images are public records under R.C. 149.351(A) or records subject to the federal preservation statute because the court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over the action.
Key quotations
“If the allegations of a complaint indicate that the real objects sought are a declaratory judgment and a prohibitory injunction, then the complaint does not state a claim in mandamus and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.” (¶ 9)
“The relief she seeks is not within our original jurisdiction to grant.” (¶ 13)
Factual background
Gadell-Newton, a Green Party candidate for governor, sought preservation of digital ballot images generated by voting equipment used in the May 8, 2018 primary election. The images were created and stored by county scanning systems as separate retrievable files associated with cast-vote records. She alleged that the images were public records under Ohio law and records subject to a 22-month federal preservation requirement. She contended that election officials had destroyed or might destroy the images after elections.
Procedural history
Gadell-Newton sent preservation demands to the Secretary of State and the Franklin and Cuyahoga County boards of elections before the May 8, 2018 primary election. After receiving no response, she filed an expedited mandamus complaint in the Supreme Court of Ohio on April 19, 2018. The court concluded that the requested relief was principally prohibitory injunctive relief, over which it lacked original jurisdiction, and dismissed the complaint without deciding whether digital ballot images were subject to the state or federal preservation laws.