The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday morning denied Justin Tjaden’s petition for a writ of mandamus in response to the Ashtabula County Board of Elections’ motion to dismiss.
The case was dismissed based on the jurisdictional priority rule. Five of the Supreme Court’s seven justices concurred in the motion to dismiss, with Justices Melody Stewart and Patrick Fisher voting against the motion. They would have denied the Ashtabula County Board of Elections’ motion to dismiss, accepted parts of the Geauga County Board of Elections’ motion to dismiss and denied others, and granted a request from Tjaden for an expedited information schedule .
Tjaden filed the suit with the Supreme Court on June 13, seeking to have his name placed on the ballot as an independent in the race for the 99th state House of Representatives.
He also sought to have a section of the Ohio Revised Code declared unconstitutional, arguing that the increased number of signatures required for an independent candidate to be on the ballot places a heavy burden on candidates and voters.
The Ashtabula and Geauga County Boards of Elections were defendants in the case and both filed motions to dismiss.
The primary reason for dismissal of the complaint cited by the Ashtabula County Board of Elections attorney was the jurisdictional priority rule, citing another complaint filed by Tjaden in the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas.
“There is no significant difference between the two complaints,” the motion to dismiss states. “The only differences are how the allegations are presented – in this case the allegations are presented as a request for mandamus and in the Geauga County case as a declaratory judgment.”
Attorneys for the Geauga County Board of Elections argued that Tjaden was not seeking evidence that could be granted through a writ of mandamus, and that the court should not allow the case to be litigated as such simply because it involves election issues.
Tjaden filed a joint response to the motions earlier this week, arguing that his case was not barred by a 65-day delay between the Geauga County Election Board’s rejection of his petition to appear on the state ballot. November and the filing of the case before the Supreme Court.
The response states that Tjaden “attempted to grant the Geauga BOE a pardon it never granted (to Tjaden), by giving him the opportunity not to, once again, violate (his) constitutional rights “.
The response also disputes the Ashtabula Board of Elections attorneys’ assertion that the rule of jurisdictional priority applies to this case, with Tjaden saying the Geauga County Court case seeks to interpret election statutes going forward, and also seeks damages for past injuries he suffered, while the Supreme Court case seeks to resolve a current issue.
After the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the case, Tjaden released a statement about the decision.
“I stated in my brief that no logical mind could view these cases as identical. I stand by that,” Tjaden said in the statement. “I filed two lawsuits to try to give the Supreme Court as many different avenues as possible to reach its decision. It turns out they wanted to stay up in the air.”
The case in Geauga County Common Pleas Court will continue.
“While we strongly disagree with the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision, we must respect the legal process and will now focus our efforts on pursuing the writ of mandamus in the Geauga courts,” Tjaden said. “This decision underscores the critical importance of being vigilant in narrow elections, particularly those involving elected judicial offices. These offices play a central role in our judicial system and can have a significant impact on the outcome of important cases like ours. The judiciary is not a place for partisan politics.”
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