State ex rel. Abernathy v. Lucas Cnty. Bd. of Elections

• Decision Date: 23 January 2019
• Docket Number: No. 2018-1824,2018-1824
• Citation: 2019 Ohio 201,156 Ohio St.3d 238,125 N.E.3d 832
• Parties: The STATE EX REL. ABERNATHY v. LUCAS COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

156 Ohio St.3d 238

125 N.E.3d 832

2019 Ohio 201

The STATE EX REL. ABERNATHY

v.LUCAS COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS.

No. 2018-1824

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted January 14, 2019

Decided January 23, 2019

McTigue & Colombo, L.L.C., Donald J. McTigue, Columbus, J. Corey Colombo, Derek S. Clinger, Columbus, and Ben F.C. Wallace, for relator.

Julia R. Bates, Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney, and John A. Borell, Kevin A. Pituch, and Evy M. Jarrett, Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys, for respondent.

Terry J. Lodge, Toledo, for intervening respondents.

Bricker & Eckler, L.L.P., Bryan M. Smeenk, Anne Marie Sferra, and Maria J. Armstrong, Columbus, urging granting of the writ for amici curiae, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Ohio Corn & Wheat Growers Association, Ohio Pork Council, Ohio Soybean Association, and Ohio Dairy Producers Association.

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} In this expedited election case, relator, Josh Abernathy, seeks a writ of prohibition to compel respondent, the Lucas County Board of Elections, to remove the Lake Erie Bill of Rights ("LEBOR"),¹ a proposed amendment to the Toledo City Charter, from the February 26, 2019 special-election ballot. We deny the writ.

Background

{¶ 2} On December 4, 2018, the Toledo City Council passed Ordinance 497-18. The ordinance declared that the clerk of council had received sufficient petition signatures to submit the LEBOR to the voters and certified the measure to the board of elections for placement on the February 26, 2019 special-election ballot. Abernathy submitted to the board of elections a written protest in which he made two arguments: (1) the LEBOR was "legally ineligible" to appear on the ballot because its provisions exceeded the authority of the city of Toledo to enact and (2) this court's prior decision in State ex rel. Twitchell v. Saferin , 155 Ohio St.3d 52, 2018-Ohio-3829, 119 N.E.3d 365 (plurality opinion), that the LEBOR was ineligible for the ballot foreclosed its placement on the ballot under the doctrine of res judicata.

{¶ 3} After holding a hearing on Abernathy's protest, the board members voted to deny the protest and place the LEBOR on the ballot. In doing so, two board members made clear their belief that the LEBOR was "on its face unconstitutional and unenforceable" and "beyond the authority of the City of Toledo" but stated that they were obliged to vote to place the measure on the ballot by this court's recent decision in State ex rel. Maxcy v. Saferin , 155 Ohio St.3d 496, 2018-Ohio-4035, 122 N.E.3d 1165.

{¶ 4} On December 26, 2018, Abernathy filed this action for a writ of prohibition. Because the action was filed within 90 days of the February 26, 2019 special election, the case was automatically subject to an accelerated schedule for the submission of briefs and evidence. S.Ct.Prac.R. 12.08(A)(1) and (2). The parties have filed their briefs and evidence in accordance with that expedited schedule. We granted Bryan Twitchell, Julian C. Mack, and Sean M. Nestor leave to intervene on behalf of the committee in support of the LEBOR. And we received an amicus brief in support of Abernathy from the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, the Ohio Corn & Wheat Growers Association, the Ohio Pork Council, the Ohio Soybean Association, and the Ohio Dairy Producers Association.

Legal analysis

{¶ 5} To obtain a writ of prohibition in an election case, a relator must show that (1) the board of elections exercised quasi-judicial power, (2) the exercise of that power was unlawful, and (3) the relator has no adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law. State ex rel. McCord v. Delaware Cty. Bd. of Elections , 106 Ohio St.3d 346, 2005-Ohio-4758, 835 N.E.2d 336, ¶ 27. If all three elements are proved, then a writ of prohibition will issue. State ex rel. Finkbeiner v. Lucas Cty. Bd. of Elections , 122 Ohio St.3d 462, 2009-Ohio-3657, 912 N.E.2d 573, ¶ 40.

{¶ 6} Because this is an expedited election matter, the third prohibition element is easily satisfied. Abernathy does not have an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law because "given the proximity of the election, an injunction would arguably not constitute an adequate remedy because any ‘appellate process would last well past the election.’ " State ex rel. Thurn v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Elections , 72 Ohio St.3d 289, 292, 649 N.E.2d 1205 (1995), quoting State ex rel. Smart v. McKinley , 64 Ohio St.2d 5, 6, 412 N.E.2d 393 (1980) ; see also State ex rel. Brown v. Butler Cty. Bd. of Elections , 109 Ohio St.3d 63, 2006-Ohio-1292, 846 N.E.2d 8, ¶ 22 (holding that the relators in that case lacked an adequate remedy "given the closeness of the election").

{¶ 7} However, the second element necessary for relief in prohibition is not present here because, as we recognized in Maxcy , a board of elections has no legal authority to review the substance of a proposed charter amendment and has no discretion to block the measure from the ballot based on an assessment of its suitability. 155 Ohio St.3d 496, 2018-Ohio-4035, 122 N.E.3d 1165, at ¶ 13, 18-19.

{¶ 8} Municipal-charter amendments are governed by Article XVIII, Section 9 of the Ohio Constitution, which provides that charter amendments "may be submitted to the electors of a municipality by a two-thirds vote of the legislative authority thereof, and, upon petitions signed by ten per centum of the electors of the municipality setting forth any such amendment, shall be submitted by such legislative authority." This constitutional language vests the municipal legislative body with sole authority to determine whether the petition satisfies the legal requirements for submission to the voters. " ‘Inasmuch as the Constitution requires the submission to be made by legislative authority, it follows that that authority need not make the submission unless satisfied of the sufficiency of the petitions and that all statutory requirements are fairly met.’ " State ex rel. Semik v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Elections , 67 Ohio St.3d 334, 335-336, 617 N.E.2d 1120 (1993), quoting State ex rel. Hinchliffe v. Gibbons , 116 Ohio St. 390, 395, 156 N.E. 455 (1927).

{¶ 9} Therefore, as we stated in Maxcy , once the municipal legislative body passes an ordinance placing the proposed charter amendment on the ballot, "the duty of the board [of elections] is to simply add the proposed charter amendment to the ballot." Maxcy at ¶ 19. A board of elections has no discretion to keep a proposed charter amendment off the ballot because "in placing a proposed amendment to a municipal charter on the ballot, the ‘board of elections has nothing but a ministerial role under the Constitution.’ " Id. , quoting Semik at 337, 617 N.E.2d 1120. Once council passed the ordinance to place the LEBOR on the ballot in accordance with Article XVIII, Section 9 of the Ohio Constitution, the board had no power to keep the proposed charter amendment off the ballot.

{¶ 10} Because Abernathy's claim fails on the second element he must satisfy to obtain a writ of prohibition, we need not address the remaining element, whether the board's exercise of authority was quasi-judicial. We deny Abernathy's request for a writ because the board's decision to put the proposed charter amendment on the ballot was not unlawful.

{¶ 11} Alternatively, Abernathy and amici curiae contend that the board of elections was affirmatively barred from placing the LEBOR on the ballot by the doctrine of claim preclusion. This petition in support of the LEBOR first came before the board of elections on August 28, 2018, when the board voted four to zero to refuse to place the proposed charter amendment on the November 6, 2018 general-election ballot on the ground that it contained provisions beyond the authority of the city to enact. Twitchell, Mack, and Nestor filed a complaint in mandamus seeking an order compelling the board to place the LEBOR on the ballot, and we denied the writ. Twitchell , 155 Ohio St.3d 52, 2018-Ohio-3829, 119 N.E.3d 365, at ¶ 1 (plurality opinion). In light of Twitchell , Abernathy argues that the board "was barred from considering the re-assertion of the right to place [the] LEBOR Amendment on the ballot, as this claim had already been adjudicated in Twitchell ." But as we have discussed, the board had no power to keep the proposed charter amendment off the ballot for any reason, including claim preclusion.

{¶ 12} The board of elections performed its ministerial duty by placing the LEBOR on the ballot. Abernathy is not entitled to a writ of prohibition to undo that action.

Writ denied.

Kennedy, French, and DeWine, JJ., concur.

Fischer, J., concurs in judgment only, with an opinion.

Stewart, J., concurs in judgment only, with an opinion joined by O'Connor, C.J.

Donnelly, J., not participating.

Fischer, J., concurring in judgment only.

{¶ 13} I respectfully concur only in the court's judgment denying the writ of prohibition sought by relator, Josh Abernathy. As an initial matter, I agree with the judgment reached in the lead opinion that respondent, the Lucas County Board of Elections, was not barred from placing the Lake Erie Bill of Rights ("LEBOR") on the ballot by any preclusive doctrine. I write separately, however, because on all other issues before the court in this case, it is sufficient for the court to determine that the board of elections did not clearly disregard applicable law.

{¶ 14} As the lead opinion correctly recites, "to obtain a writ of prohibition in an election case, a relator must show that (1) the board of elections exercised quasi-judicial power, (2) the exercise of that power was unlawful, and (3) the relator has no adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law." Lead opinion at ¶ 5. For us to determine whether the board unlawfully exercised power, i.e., exercised power that was unauthorized by law, "we must determine whether the board acted fraudulently or corruptly, abused its discretion, or clearly disregarded applicable law." State ex rel. Brown v. Butler Cty. Bd. of Elections, 109 Ohio St.3d 63, 2006-Ohio-1292, 846...