Opinion
No. 35781
Decided February 11, 1959.
Elections — Submission of issue of annexation of territory — What ballot to contain — Coercive words in caption not authorized — Such words invalidate election, when.
APPEAL from the Court of Common Pleas of Lucas County.
This action was instituted in the Court of Common Pleas for the purpose of contesting an election held in Adams Township, Lucas County, on May 6, 1958, on the question of the proposed annexation to the city of Toledo of substantially all of Adams Township. The text of the proposal to be voted on, appearing in the caption of the ballot submitted to the electors, described the issue submitted as the question of annexation "for municipal purposes only, but not for school purposes." The election resulted favorably for the proposed annexation.
The Court of Common Pleas found the election to be valid and dismissed the petition.
The cause is in this court by reason of the allowance of the appellants' motion for leave to appeal directly from the Court of Common Pleas under authority of Section 3515.15, Revised Code.
Messrs. Eastman, Stichter Smith, Mr. Jamille G. Jamra and Mr. Raymond L. Crawford, for appellants.
Mr. Charles T. Lawton, director of law, and Mr. Robert Durrell, for appellee.
The question, the answer to which is determinative of this case, is whether the words, "for municipal purposes only, but not for school purposes," appearing in the caption of the ballot were unauthorized and thus invalidated the election. This court is of the opinion that the quoted words were unauthorized in the light of Section 3505.06, Revised Code, and that their use in the ballot invalidated the election.
The judgment of the Court of Common Pleas is reversed on authority of Beck v. City of Cincinnati, 162 Ohio St. 473, 124 N.E.2d 120.
Judgment reversed.
WEYGANDT, C.J., ZIMMERMAN, STEWART, TAFT, MATTHIAS, BELL and HERBERT, JJ., concur.