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Lawsuit filed to kick traffic cam issue off ballot

LISBON — East Liverpool has filed a lawsuit to get the traffic camera issue removed from the Nov. 5 ballot, and county Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam could issue a ruling as early as today.

East Liverpool Law Director Charles Payne filed a lawsuit Thursday morning seeking a preliminary injunction preventing the traffic camera issue “from being on the ballot for the Nov. 5 election.”

The lawsuit comes one week after the Ohio 7th District Court of Appeals ruled against the 2017 petition efforts by a citizens group seeking to place the traffic camera issue before voters that year. The appeals court said the petition was flawed because it was filed under the wrong law.

Anticipating this might happen, the East Liverpool Citizens Against Traffic Cameras filed a new and corrected set of petitions with the county elections board in 2018, but it was too late for placement on the November ballot that year. The elections board voted last month to certify the issue for placement on the Nov. 5 ballot based on the 2018 petitions.

The ballot issue, if approved by voters, would repeal the East Liverpool law that allows for the use of traffic cameras to catch speeding motorists.

The elections board determined the 2018 petitions had enough valid signatures, but East Liverpool City Auditor Marilyn Bosco has the job of reviewing the petitions and certifying them for placement on the ballot. In 2017, Bosco ruled against the citizens group, saying the petitions were based on the wrong section of code, which resulted in the appeal that was ultimately resolved in the city’s favor by last week’s court ruling.

On Aug. 7, 2019, Bosco filed a letter with the elections board saying that while she reviewed the 2018 petitions, “Any certification on the sufficiency and validity of the petition will be revoked should the 7th Court of Appeals reverse the lower court order” in the appeal of the 2017 petitions. Elections board Director Kim Fusco interpreted Bosco’s filing to mean she was certifying the 2018 petitions for placement on the Nov. 5 ballot, and the board acted accordingly.

On Monday, four days following the appeals court ruling, Bosco filed another letter with the elections boards saying she “cannot certify the sufficiency and validity” of the 2018 petitions because everything had been placed on hold pending the outcome of the 2017 appeal. Bosco also stated her Aug. 7 letter should not be misconstrued to mean she had determined the petitions were valid.

Judge Washam reportedly held an informal meeting Thursday with all parties to discuss the issues. The elections board suggested leaving the traffic camera issue on the ballot but let the votes go uncounted until East Liverpool’s latest lawsuit is resolved.

Payne made it clear East Liverpool, not wanting to go through time and expense of opposing the traffic camera issue, wants it removed from the ballot and the city is willing to pay the cost.

Early voting begins Oct. 8, and the elections board has already printed out absentee ballots. Fusco said 1,100 absentee ballots already printed for East Liverpool have the traffic camera issue on them. It would cost an estimated $5,000 to print new ballots without the issue and also reprogram the optical scanners at the polling places and the vote tabulation machine at the elections board.

The other ballots to be used on election day have yet to be printed, and Fusco said they called the company printing to tell them to hold off until the dispute is resolved.

East Liverpool accounts for about 5,000 of the election-day ballots to be printed, and the company was just days away from printing them.

“The only thing that saved us is other counties were ahead of us,” she said.

tgiambroni@mojonews.com

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