CLARIFICATION of rulings regarding use of term RE-ELECT

The Ohio Elections Commission through several Advisory Opinions and Rulings has determined that the term "RE-elect" may be used in connection with the term WARD COUNCIL, (AO 99LC-05 see link below).

A previous complaint filed against the Cummins Campaign for the new Ward 14 for one of our first campaign pieces was dismissed because the piece, although using the term RE-elect did not indicate a Ward number, it only referred to the title I currently have, which is Councilman. This is allowable under the Commission's rules.

Subsequently to learning of the Advisory Opinions related to the use of the term re-elect, our campaign has either dropped the term RE-elect and utilized the WARD NUMBER to draw attention to the distinct race we are in, or we've dropped the Ward number and have utilized the term RE-elect as allowed under the Commission's rulings.

My opponent did not attend the hearing last week in Columbus to provide any testimony to the complaint filed. He tried to present new evidence that was submitted less than 24-hours in advance. That evidence was disallowed for failing to meet procedures. In the proceedings there was lengthy discussion and a review of past cases. There was a motion to dismiss made, which was defeated by a 2 to 4 vote, and the ultimate vote for the violation was 4 to 3 with a tie vote decided by the Chairman.

Of the two pieces that were cited in the complaint. One was generally viewed as not being in violation as the term RE-elect was substantially separated from the term WARD 14 in context and design. The yard signs that were designed prior to our knowledge of the Commission's rules were found in violation.

There was no financial penalty or referral for prosecution as the Commission recognized that sufficient evidence was provided to show our campaign took the appropriate actions to correct our literature and yard signs from the time we became aware of the rulings. We've since blocked-out the term RE-elect from our yard signs.

One last note is that these rulings impact any and all re-districted elections, i.e., census mandated re-districting or otherwise. No candidates can utilize the term re-elect in direct conjunction with a Ward or District jurisdictional designation.

REF:
http://elc.ohio.gov/AdvisoryOpinion/99ELC-05.pdf [1]

CITIZENS for CUMMINS
www.briancummins.us
info [at] briancummins [dot] us