In re Election held on Stark County Issue Six
Annotate this CaseThese consolidated appeals stemmed from a general election on Issue 6 in Lake Township, Stark County, that approved expansion of the a police district to include all of Lake Township's unincorporated territory and levied a property tax for that purpose. The issue was approved by the voters. Subsequently, many of those who had voted in the election filed a petition contesting the election approving Issue 6 due to an error in ballot language and requesting that the election be set aside. The common pleas court entered a judgment granting the contest and setting aside the election result approving Issue 6, determining that the error in ballot language constituted an election irregularity and that the election irregularity made the election result on Issue 6 uncertain. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) this case presented the extreme circumstances of a misstatement in ballot wording that understated a proposed tax levy by ten times less than the true amount to be collected, which misled the voters and affected the integrity of the election on Issue 6; and (2) based on the applicable law, the common pleas court did not err in granting the contest and setting aside the election.
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