Cripps v. Seneca County Bd. of Elections

• Decision Date: 01 November 1985
• Docket Number: No. C 85-7577.,C 85-7577.
• Citation: 629 F. Supp. 1335
• Parties: Jeremy G. CRIPPS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. SENECA COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio

629 F. Supp. 1335

Jeremy G. CRIPPS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. SENECA COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS, et al., Defendants.

No. C 85-7577.

United States District Court, N.D. Ohio, W.D.

September 13, 1985.

Opinion and Order November 1, 1985.

Jacqueline Boney, Toledo, Ohio, for plaintiffs.

Peter Casey, Toledo, Ohio, Steve Shuff, Tiffin, Ohio, Andrew Sutter, Asst. Atty. Gen., Columbus, Ohio, for defendants.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

JOHN W. POTTER^*, District Judge.

This cause came to be heard on plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction, defendant Ohio Secretary of State Sherrod Brown's opposition thereto, plaintiffs' reply, and defendant City of Tiffin, Ohio's memorandum in response to plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction. Jurisdiction is predicated upon 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343(a)(3), 1343(a)(4), 2201 and 2202.

Plaintiffs have brought this action under both the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief for alleged deprivation of certain constitutional rights pertaining to ballot access for a prospective independent candidate for political office and to associational and voting rights. Initially, plaintiffs named as parties defendant, the Seneca County Board of Elections, four individuals in their respective official capacity as members of the Seneca County Board of Elections, and Sherrod Brown in his official capacity as Ohio Secretary of State. By leave of Court granted July 30, 1985, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint which, inter alia, added the City of Tiffin, Ohio (hereafter Tiffin) as a party defendant.

Plaintiffs contend, in essence, that both OHIO REV.CODE § 3513.252 and Article X of the Tiffin City Charter are, as applied to plaintiff Jeremy Cripps (hereafter Cripps), unconstitutional insofar as said statutory provisions establish an early deadline for filing with the appropriate board of elections nominating petitions of independent candidates for political office of municipal corporations having populations in excess of two thousand. Plaintiffs assert that at the direction of the Ohio Secretary of State's office, the Seneca County Board of Elections (hereafter Seneca Board), applying OHIO REV.CODE § 3513.252 as incorporated by reference in Tiffin City Charter Article X, refused to certify the name of plaintiff Cripps as an independent candidate for the position of Finance Director of the City of Tiffin for inclusion on the November 5, 1985 general election ballot.

Cripps maintains that said failure to certify his name as an independent candidate for the office of Tiffin Finance Director unduly burdens both his political opportunity and his voting and associational rights, and impermissibly discriminates against him, thereby unlawfully depriving him of the equal protection of the laws. Plaintiffs Dickerson and Birch contend that said failure of the Seneca Board to certify the name of Jeremy Cripps as a candidate for Tiffin Finance Director unduly burdens their voting and associational rights.

Defendant Ohio Secretary of State Sherrod Brown (hereafter Brown) asserts that plaintiffs have failed to establish the threshold requisite criteria warranting the "drastic remedy" of preliminary injunctive relief. Brown further asserts that the applicability of Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780, 103 S.Ct. 1564, 75 L.Ed.2d 547 (1983) to local elections remains an open question, therefore, plaintiffs cannot demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits. Brown contends that plaintiffs are unable to demonstrate irreparable injury absent issuance of a preliminary injunction. Brown maintains, albeit implicitly, that by mid-September the Court will have rendered a final decision in this cause. Moreover, Brown opines that in the event plaintiffs prevail on the merits, plaintiffs "have more than enough time to successfully campaign before the forthcoming general election. Brown suggests that Ohio has a substantial interest in the unobstructed exercise of controlling both the election process and the exercise of the franchise in Ohio, and therefore, issuance by the Court of a preliminary injunction would not serve the public interest.

Defendant City of Tiffin neither supports nor opposes plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction. However, Tiffin contends that since candidate certification for the position of Tiffin Finance Director rests solely with the Seneca County Board of Elections and since Tiffin has no power or authority by which to comply either with plaintiffs' demands or with the injunctive relief sought by plaintiffs should the court order same, such preliminary injunction, if issued by the Court, should not be addressed to Tiffin.

On August 22, 1985, the Court approved the stipulation of all parties that plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction be submitted to the Court for decision upon the briefs then filed. Said stipulation further provides that all parties waive an evidentiary hearing with respect to plaintiffs' subject motion. The Court notes that defendant Seneca Board elected not to separately respond to the motion sub judice. Nor did the parties file a set of stipulated facts. Notwithstanding, the Court recognizes that the pertinent facts appear, for the most part, to be not in dispute. The Court, having considered the memoranda submitted with respect to plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction and having thoroughly reviewed the record in this case, has made an independent determination of the facts and the legal conclusions to be drawn therefrom. The Court determines that plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction should be granted.

Findings of Fact

1. Plaintiff Cripps, a native of Leicester, England, first came to the United States of America in 1968. In 1972, plaintiff Cripps, who was born in 1943, married a natural born United States citizen. Since August, 1983, Cripps has resided in Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio. In September, 1984, Cripps applied to the U.S. Immigration Service for the purpose of becoming a naturalized citizen. The Immigration Service scheduled Cripps for examination during January, 1985, which exam he took and passed. Thereafter, he was scheduled to take his oath of citizenship on March 15, 1985. On March 15, 1985 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division, Cripps became a naturalized citizen.

2. Plaintiff Birch is a 31 year old natural born United States citizen who has resided in Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio for approximately the past 7 years. Birch states that she has known Cripps for 2 years, that she believes him to be qualified for the position of Tiffin Finance Director, that she is a registered voter in Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio, that she supports Cripps' independent candidacy for said political office, and that if Cripps' name is included on the November 5, 1985 general election ballot for the position of Tiffin Finance Director, she will vote for him for said position.

3. Plaintiff Dickerson is a 37 year old natural born United States citizen who has resided in Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio for approximately the past 3 years. Dickerson states that he has known Cripps for 2 years, that he believes Cripps to be qualified for the position of Tiffin Finance Director, that he is a registered voter in Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio, that he supports Cripps' independent candidacy for said political office, and that if Cripps' name is included on the November 5, 1985 general election ballot for the position of Tiffin Finance Director, he will vote for Cripps for said position.

4. Defendant Brown is the Secretary of State of the State of Ohio. Pursuant to OHIO REV.CODE § 3501.04, the Ohio Secretary of State is Ohio's chief election officer and, pursuant to OHIO REV.CODE § 3501.05(B) and (M) respectively, the Secretary of State "advises members of ... boards of elections as to the proper methods of conducting elections ... and compels the observance by elections officers in the several counties of the requirements of the election laws."

5. Defendant Seneca County Board of Elections is duly constituted, pursuant to OHIO REV.CODE § 3501.06, as such, by appointment of the Ohio Secretary of State, and, pursuant to OHIO REV.CODE § 3501.11(K) and (M) respectively, "shall ... review, examine, and certify the sufficiency and validity of petitions and nomination papers ... and issue certificates of election...."

6. Defendants Main, Ecos, Kinn and Zoeller, having been duly appointed by the Ohio Secretary of State, pursuant to OHIO REV.CODE § 3501.06, are the duly appointed members of the Seneca County Board of Elections.

7. Defendant City of Tiffin is a charter municipal corporation duly organized under the constitution and laws of the State of Ohio.

8. In January, 1985, Cripps decided to become an independent candidate for election in the 1985 general election to the office of Tiffin Finance Director. Cripps has never been involved in any political activity with either the Republican or Democratic parties and he considers himself politically independent of either of said political parties. The office of Tiffin Finance Director is an elected position. Article VI, § 6.01 of the Tiffin City Charter provides that the Director of Finance shall be elected from the city-at-large.

Article XI, § 11.01 requires that each elected officer of the City of Tiffin be an elector, OHIO REV.CODE §§ 3501.01(N) and 3503.01, of said City and have resided in Tiffin for a period of one year prior to election. OHIO REV.CODE § 3503.01 requires that a qualified elector be, inter alia, a citizen of the United States.

9. Article X of the Tiffin City Charter incorporates, by reference, the general election laws of the State of Ohio, including OHIO REV.CODE § 3513.252.

10. OHIO REV.CODE § 3513.252, in pertinent part, provides:

The nominating petitions of independent candidates for election as officers of a

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