On Monday, the Ohio Christian Alliance filed a lawsuit at the Ohio Supreme Court to secure resolution concerning the voting rights of the citizens of Medina City who wrongfully had their signatures invalidated from the referendum petition on Medina City Ordinance 112-19 passed by Medina City Council on July 8, 2019.
Marie Nauth, a registered elector in the City of Medina and a signer of the referendum petition, had submitted a Petition Protest Appeal along with forty-seven sworn affidavits with proof of identity from referendum petition signers whose signatures had been invalidated to the Medina County Board of Elections. The Medina County Board of Elections took no action in response to the citizens’ request for a hearing. After exhausting every possible avenue of appeal, the voting citizens of Medina City represented in this lawsuit had no recourse but to file suit to secure their voting rights.
It is clear that the rights of these voters are being denied. The forty-seven voters whose signatures were wrongly invalidated, as well as the other signers of the referendum petition were denied their right to the ballot. This is a violation of everything we stand for concerning the integrity of elections. The right of the people’s referendum should not be denied when they have clearly gathered enough signatures to place the referendum on the ballot for the people to decide.
It is our hope that the Court will see the injustice of the actions of the Medina County Board of Elections and local county officials who have been insistent on taking no action and have become tone deaf concerning the fundamental Constitutional right of its citizens to vote.
