Summary
The Supreme Court of Ohio granted a writ of mandamus ordering the Ohio Secretary of State to count nine additional verified petition signatures and certify Terpsehore P. Maras as an independent candidate for Secretary of State. The court held that refusing to count signatures submitted by county boards before the statutory July 15 deadline was in clear disregard of R.C. 3513.262.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Secretary of State acted in clear disregard of applicable law by refusing to count nine additional signatures certified by county boards before the statutory July 15 deadline.
- Whether defects in Maras's verification affidavit required dismissal of the mandamus action.
Holdings
- The affidavit supporting Maras's mandamus complaint was valid because, when read as a whole, it demonstrated that Maras had been sworn and verified the facts alleged in the complaint.
- The Secretary of State acted in clear disregard of applicable law by refusing to count the nine additional signatures verified by the Cuyahoga and Columbiana County boards before the statutory deadline.
Key quotations
“If statutory language is clear and unambiguous, we apply the statute as written, without adding or deleting words.” (¶ 28)
“We hold that the secretary acted in clear disregard of applicable law when he refused to count the additional verified signatures from Cuyahoga and Columbiana Counties.” (¶ 29)
Factual background
Maras filed a petition to run as an independent candidate for Ohio Secretary of State containing 5,873 signatures. County boards initially verified 5,010 signatures by July 5, but Cuyahoga and Columbiana Counties later submitted amended certifications validating nine additional signatures before the statutory July 15 deadline. The Secretary refused to count those nine signatures, and after a protest hearing and invalidation of 17 signatures, decertified Maras because the official total was 4,993.
Procedural history
Maras submitted an independent-candidate nominating petition. After county boards initially verified enough signatures, the Secretary of State refused to count nine additional signatures verified through amended certification forms submitted on July 12 and July 14. Following a protest hearing, the Secretary decertified Maras after invalidating 17 signatures, reducing her total to 4,993. Maras then filed this original mandamus action, and the Supreme Court of Ohio granted the writ based on the nine additional signatures.
Remand instructions
The Secretary of State was ordered to add nine valid signatures to Maras's total and certify her name to the November 8, 2022 ballot as an independent candidate for Ohio Secretary of State.