# State Ex Rel. Davis v. Summit County Board of Elections

> Ohio Supreme Court · October 18, 2013 · 137 Ohio St. 3d 222

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9801427

## Case

- **Full name:** The State Ex Rel. Davis v. Summit County Board of Elections
- **Court:** Ohio Supreme Court
- **Decided:** October 18, 2013
- **Citations:** 137 Ohio St. 3d 222; 998 N.E.2d 1093; 2013 Ohio 4616
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Lanzinger
- **Judges:** O'Connor, Pfeifer, Kennedy, O'Neill, O'Donnell, Lanzinger, French
- **Cited by:** 19 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9801427

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- rejecting claim that general election ballot could not be changed to include wrongfully-omitted candidate simply because absentee voting had already begun 17 days before court issued opinion

## Opinion text

Lanzinger, J.,
dissenting.
{¶ 43} The county boards of elections are given little guidance when asked to determine whether an independent candidate has made a good-faith declaration of disaffiliation. In order to vacate the decision of a board of elections and grant a writ of mandamus, a relator must establish that the board’s decision resulted *230 from fraud, corruption, abuse of discretion, or clear disregard of applicable law. Whitman v. Hamilton Cty. Bd. of Elections, 97 Ohio St.3d 216 , 2002-Ohio-5923 , 778 N.E.2d 32, ¶ 11 . The term “abuse of discretion” in this context connotes an unreasonable, arbitrary, or unconscionable decision. State ex rel. Stine v. Brown Cty. Bd. of Elections, 101 Ohio St.3d 252 , 2004-Ohio-771 , 804 N.E.2d 415, ¶12 , citing State ex rel. Stevens v. Geauga Cty. Bd. of Elections, 90 Ohio St.3d 223, 226 , 736 N.E.2d 882 (2000). Because I believe that the Summit County Board of Elections did not act unreasonably under the circumstances, I would deny the writ.
Law Offices of Warner Mendenhall and Warner Mendenhall; and Alyssa M. Allen, for relator.
Sheri Bevan Walsh, Summit County Prosecuting Attorney, and John F. Galonski, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for respondent.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9801427. Public record. Not legal advice.