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Last Updated: March 15, 2011 at 11:10 AM

Sarantou v. Lucas County Board of Elections

Case Information

Date Filed: December 13, 2010
State: Ohio
Issues: Election 2010, Provisional Ballots
Courts that Heard this Case: Lucas County Court of Common Pleas (Case CI0201008257)

Issue:

Whether provisional ballots in a county commissioner's race were correctly counted.

Status:

Petition filed 12/13/10.

Trial Court Documents

Verified Election Contest Petition Under (R.C. 3515.08) with Application for Assignment of Visiting Judge (filed 12/13/10)
Order setting hearing for January 3, 2011 (entered 12/13/10)
Order setting pretrial for December 20, 2010 (entered 12/17/10)
Order rescheduling hearing for January 10, 2011 (entered 12/20/10)
Motion for a Protective Order of the Lucas County Board of Election (filed 12/22/10)

Commentary

Silence of the Lambs

Dale A. Oesterle

With the election of 2012 now well over and past the second inauguration of the incumbent President, the historical analysis of the events has begun and will last as long as written human history lasts. An interesting tidbit may already be lost to the majesty of the moment.

The voters of three very different states, Alaska, New Hampshire, and Ohio, all had an opportunity to call state constitutional conventions. In each state the voters turned the opportunity down by very similar votes, 68%, 64% and 68% respectively against.

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In the News

EXCLUSIVE: Voter fraud, or just errors?

Professor Dan Tokaji was quoted in a Cincinnati Enquirer article about whether citizens who cast two ballots in elections have committed voter fraud. Some citizens under investigation say they were confused about the process or worried their original votes, often sent via absentee ballot, wouldn't count. Tokaji said there is often a valid reason someone would cast an absentee ballot and then a provisional one at a voting location.

“It’s certainly not a crime or intentional double voting,” he said. “Officials are not supposed to count provisional ballots if an absentee ballot has been cast.”

Submitting both “doesn’t come close to voting fraud,” he said. “The burden is on the board of elections to make sure two votes don’t count.”

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Info & Analysis

Ohio House Committee Recommends Upholding Landis' Election Victory

Yesterday, an Ohio House of Representatives committee recommended 5-4 that the Ohio House uphold the election victory of Republican State Representative Al Landis over Democratic challenger Josh O'Farrell. In February, the Ohio Supreme Court sent the O'Farrell v. Landis record to the House for consideration. According to an article in the Canton Repository, committee chairman and State Representative Matt Huffman said he expects a vote by the full House later this month.

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Major Pending Cases

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