Opinion
No. 33946
Decided April 23, 1954.
Elections — Primaries — Petition for candidate — Form and verification — Candidate for member of county central committee — Substantial compliance with statutory requirements.
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Lawrence county.
By this proceeding in mandamus, instituted in the Court of Appeals, relator seeks a writ requiring the respondent members of the board of elections to omit from the ballot at a primary election the name of respondent Homer M. Edwards as candidate for member of the Lawrence County Republican Central Committee. Relator contends that since the petition for candidate does not contain the name of the candidate, Edwards, does not certify that the signers are members of the Republican Party, and does not state that Edwards is a member of the Republican Party, it does not substantially conform to the provisions of Section 3513.07, Revised Code. There is no claim of fraud.
A protest against the candidacy of Edwards was filed with the board of elections. The board found that the petition substantially complies with the statutory requirements and that the persons signing the petition were members of the same party and had properly signed.
The declaration of candidacy and petition for candidate are on the same sheet of paper. The declaration was signed and sworn to by Edwards and contains his name and party affiliation and the name of the party of which he is a candidate.
The cause was submitted to the Court of Appeals on the amended petition and a demurrer thereto. The court held that it is necessary for persons signing such a petition to be members of the political party of which the candidate is a member, but that it is not required that they declare their party affiliation in the petition. The court sustained the demurrer and, relator not desiring to plead further, dismissed the amended petition.
An appeal as of right brings the cause to this court for review.
Mr. J. Earl Pratt, for appellant.
Mr. Harold D. Spears, prosecuting attorney, for appellee Board of Elections of Lawrence County.
Mr. Elliott E. Meyers, for appellee Homer M. Edwards.
This court is of the opinion that the board of elections in declaring the petition valid did not abuse its discretion. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals was not in error in sustaining the demurrer to the amended petition, and its judgment is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
WEYGANDT, C.J., MIDDLETON, TAFT, HART, ZIMMERMAN, STEWART and LAMNECK, JJ., concur.
In my opinion, the decision in this case cannot be reconciled with the decision and the reasons given therefor in State, ex rel. Kroeger, v. Leonard et al., Board of Elections of Summit County, 151 Ohio St. 197, 84 N.E.2d 910. However, in view of the reasons which Judge Stewart and I gave in expressing our dissent from the judgment rendered in that case, I have no difficulty in concurring in the judgment being rendered in the instant case. See also State, ex rel. Halpin, v. Hamilton County Board of Elections, ante, 281.