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IN THE SUPRF.MF, COURT OF OHIO

STATE ex rel. STEVE CHRIS"I'OPHF,R

1657 C.R.I75Forcst, Ohio 45843,

Relator,

vs .

HON. JF.NNIFER BRUNNEROHIO SECRE"I'ARY OF STATEI 80 Last Bi-oad Street

Columbus, Ohio 43215,

Resp o n d en t .

Case No.

Original Action in Mandainus

Expedited Election Case UnderS.Ct. Prac. R. 10.9

COMPLAINT FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS

David R. Langdon (0067046)Counsel of Record

Bradley M. Peppo ( 0083847)

LANGDO N LAhJ LLC11175 Reading Rd., Ste. 104

Cincinnati, Ohio 45241(513) 577-7380(513) 577-7383 I'axdlangdon(aylangdonlaw.com

tkidd ^langdonlaw.coinbpeppo(a^,langdonlaw.com

Richard Cordray (0038034)01110 ATTORNEY GENERAL

30 E. Broad Street, 17r" Floor

C:olumbus, Ohio 43215( 6 1 4 ) 4 6 6 - 4 3 2 0

( 6 1 4 ) 4 6 6 - 5 0 8 7 f a x

Counsel for RespondentO h i o S e c r e t a r y q f S t a t e J e n n i f e r B r u n n e r

Counsel for Rela[or Steve Christopher

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Now cotnes Relator Steve C.hristopher, on relation to the State of Ohio, and for his

Complaint for Writ of Mandamus against Respondent Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner,

states as follows:

INTROI)UCTIG3N

1. This is an original aetion for a writ of mandatnus to compel the Secretary of State

to certify Relator Steve Christopher as a candidate for the Republican Party's notnination for

election to the office of Ohio Attorney General and to instruct the county boards of elections to

place his name on the to the ballot for the upcoming Republican Party Primary election.

JURISDICTION

2. This court has original jurisdictiotl over this action pursuant to Article IV, Section

2(B)(I)(d) of the Oh io Constitutiott.

PARTIES

3. Itelator Steve Christopher is a qualilied clector residing in Hardin County who

desires to be a candidate for the Republican Party nomination for election to the office of Ohio

Attorney General.

4. Respotident Jennifet- Brunner is the Ohio Secretary of State and the chief elections

ofl cer of the State o['Ohio.

ALLECATIONS

5. R.C. Chapter 3513 sets forth the requirenients for ballot access for persons

desit-ing to become a candidale for a party nomination. In non-presidentiai primary years, such

petsons must fde a declaration of candidaey and petition on or be1'otx; the seventy-fifth day

be['orc the day of the primary election. The requirements for the form and content of the

declaration and petition are found in R.C. 3513.07.

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6. To qualify as a candidate for the Republican nomination for election to the office

o fA ttorncy General, Mr. Christopher needed to file, on or before February 18, 2010, a

Dcclaration of Candidacy and Petition containing (lie signatures of at least 1,000 electors who

are members of the Republican Party.

7. The Ohio Secretary of' State publishes Form No. 2-B, entitled "Declaration of

C:atididacy: Party Primary Election," for usc by persons desiring to become a candidate for a

,

party nommation.

8. On oi- ahout February 8, 2010, volunteers working on Mr. Christopher's behalf

began collecting signatures for Mr. Chtistopher's candidate petitions.

9. On February 18, 2008, Mr. Christopher personally Piled his Declaration of

Candidacy and Candidate Petition (on Form No. 2-B) with the Secretary of State (hereal'ter

referred to as the "Petition.")

10. At the time of this fiting, the Secretary of State's office issued Mr. Christopher a

receipt, on Secretary of State Form 18, acknowledging that Mr. Christopher had filed

approxinnately 2,750 signatures. I'he receipt is time stamped as being received on February 18,

2010, at 12:29 p.m. A ti-ue and accurate copy of the receipt is attached as Exhibit 1 and made a

patt hereof.

I I . (minediately prior to filing the Petition, Mr. Christopher and a campaign

volunteer obtained copies of the part-petitions that he filed with the Secretary of State.

12. Mr. Christopher had in liis possession an additional 75 part petitions containing in

excess of 500 signatures of purpotted Ohio electors who are members of the Republican Party

which he did not (ile. (I-le still lias the originals of thesc petitions in his possession.) tle withheld

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these additional petitions because Ohio law clearly requires the Secretary of State to reject

petitions ttiat appear to contain more than three thousand signatur-es.

13. tndeed, R.C. 3513.05 states that "the secretary of state sliall not accept or file any

such petition [for party nomination] appearing on its face to contain signatures of more than

three thousand electors."

14. Mr. Christopher withheld the additional 75 part petitions because he wanted to be

absolutcly ccrtain that lie did not file a petition that contained more lhati 3,000 signatures.

15. Upon inforrnation and belief, on March 5, 2010, the Secretary issued a press

release amiouncing the statewide candidates that she had certified to the ballot.' The press

release also announced the candidates that had filed petitions but which she had not certified to

the batlot. The press release on the Secretary's website contained a link to a spr-eadshect showing

the "number of part petitions sertt" and "the nurnber of signatures sent" by the Secretary to the

boards ofelections for verification, and the "number of valid part petitions," the "number of

invalid part petitions," and the "numbea- of valid signatures" reported to the Secretary by the

boards of elections.

16. The spreadsliect for Mr. Christopher indicated the following totals:

NumbcrPar t

Pctit iow

S en t

104

Number of'

o f S ig n a tu res

Number of Number of Number of Number ot' on Invalid Number of

Valid Part Valid lrwalid Invalid Part Part Signatures

13etitions Siinatures Signatures Petitions Petitions Sent

104 63 8 166 0 0 788

I'hc, press release is available on the Secretary 5 wehsite jlhtty nwwso, tit^ic.oh.u5/^OSlPres^kclcascs!'O10/2Q10-0i-( 5.aspx ( last checked March 12, 2010).

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17. '1'hus, even tliough Mr. Christopher submitted at least 242 part petitions

containing at least 2,352 signatures of purported Ohio electors, according to the Secretary's work

log which she released to the media, she only sent 104 part petitions containing 788 signatures of

purported Ohio electors to the boards ol'cleetions for their verification `

18. According to the Secretary's work log, Mr. Christopher's signature validation rate

was 81 %. If the Secretary had sent the 242 part petitions containing 2,352 signatures that Mr.

Christopher fited, Mr. Christopher would only have needed to attain a 43% validation rate to

have reached the requisite 1,000 signatures.

19. On March 5, 2010, the Secretary's oH ice sent a letter, which Mr. Christopher

received on March 8, stating that the Secretary was not certifying his candidacy due to a lack of

sufficient valid signatures. 1'he letter informed Mr. Christopher that he had only submitted 638

valid signatures and tllus his name would not appear on the Republican Party's ballot at the May

4, 2010 Primary Election. A true and accurate copy oithe letter is attached as Exhibit 2 and

made a part hereoi'.

20, On March 5, 2010, the Secrctary issued Directive 2010-42 to the county boards of

election. '1'his Directive contained the forin fot-the printary ballots for the major and minor

political parties, including the Republican Party. Mr. Christopher's name does not appear on the

form for the Republican Party primary.

21. On March 9, 2010, in response to Mr. Christopher's publicly stated objections to

the Secretary s reI'usal to certify his eandidacy, the Seeretary issued a press release wherein she

stated:

^ The Secretary's work log indicates a total of 788 sigmrtures sent to the boards of elections. But if youcalculate the totals in each row, the actual total nurnber of signatures is 804. In other words, theSecretary's work log, which is prepared in an Excel spreadsheet, iniscalculates the number of signaturesthe Secrelary claims to have sent to lhc hoards of elections.

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Mr. Christopher had submitted a sufficient number of signatures to qualify for certification to the

ballot.

25_ Upon information and belief, the Secretay's staffhas been searching the

Secretary's office for the missing petitions that Mr. Christopher filed on February 18, 2010.

CLAIM FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS

26. Relator restates the allegations in paragraphs I through 25 as if fully restated

herein.

27. Relator's Petition satisfies the requirements of R.C. 3513.05 and other applicable

provisions of Ohio election law. Notwithstanding the invalidation of some signatures, the

Petition which Relator filed with the Secretary of State on February 18, 2010 contains a

sufficient number of valid signatures of electors who are members of the Republican Party.

28. Accordingly, the Secretary has a clear legal duty to certify Relator as a candidate

for the Republican nomination foi- election to the office of Ohio Attorney General and to instruct

the county boards of election to place his name on the ballot for the Republican Primary election

on May 4, 2010.

29. In the altei7iative, the Secretary has a c lear legal duty to send all of the part-

petitions that Relator filed with her office on February 18, 2010, to the county boards of'eleetions

for verification and, upon being informed by the boards of elections that Relator's Petition

contains 1,000 or more valid signatures, to certify Relator's candidacy and instruct the county

boards of efections to place his name on the Republican Primary ballot.

30. The Secretary abused her discretion and acted in clear disregard of the law by not

sending Mr. Christopher's Petition to the boai-ds of election for verification and by not certifying

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candidate for the Republican nornination for election to the office of Ohio

Attorney General;

D. Issue an Alternative Writ staying the Secretary's decision uot to certify Relator as

a candidate and, further, directing the Secretary to instruct the county boards of

elections to place Relator's name on the Republican Primary ballot pending the

Court's resolution of Relator's mandamus claim;

E. Award Itelator his costs and expenses incurred in bringing this action, including

his reasonable attorney fees; and

F. Grant such other and further relief as the Court deems equitable, just and proper.

Respectfully submitted,

/ / a1 L 04

David R. Lang on (0067046)('otensel of 2ecord

Bradley M. I'eppo (0083847)LANGDON Lnw LLCI 1 175 Reading Rd., Ste. 104

Cincinnati, Ohio 45241

(513) 577-7380(5I3)577-7383 faxdlangdon@langdonlaw.com

bpeppoP.langdonlaw.com

a vnq 0 1- 7 g 5 " ^ Y

CoaFfzsel for Relator Sleve Christopher

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AFF

STATE OF OHIOss.

COUNTY OF HARDIN

AV['f

I. Steve Christopher, being first dnly sworn according to law, depose and state that I have

read the foregoing f:oinplaint for Writ of Mandatnus and the statements eontained in the

Complaint, which are incorporated and made, a haa-t of this Affidavit as if completely rewritten

herein, are true based on ttty personal knowletlge, and I am conipetent to testify to samc.

S'kvorn to arid subscribed bctiii-e me on this 12"' day of March, 20I0.

D E A N G US^eda- . _ ,

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PRAECIPE TO CLERK

Please serve the foregoing Complaint for Writ of Mandamus on the Respottdent named

herein, as foll(iws:

HON. .IENNIF'E,R BRUNN L'ROhio Secretary of State180 East Broad Street

Columbus, Ohio 43215

^^^/P ,a ^ s^^A David R. Langdoti (0067046)

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

1'he undersigned certiFes that a eourtesy copy of the f'oregoing Complaint for Writ of

Mandanius was served by electronic mail oti ttte 12`" day oi' March, 2010 upon the following:

Rrian Shinnhslunn rrsos.st ite.ob, Es

Aaron I). EpstcinAaron Lps- eirt^tiiohioattonrey^r^cral.^o^_

Damian SikoraI?amt^in.5il:ot t cr o^tt^attotncl:g^^iut^_.eq_v_Richard N. CoglianeseILicharcl.C;ggh wc 5c'rr!o_ hso ittoenc^^< nc_^tLt^gvI'carl ChinPcntl C h^n' t ohioattorttcv^erteral. ^ov_

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J - --->avid R. Langdon (0067046)

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Fomi No. 18 Prescdbed by Sccretary ofState (4210)

PETITION FILING FORM ANDI ^ i t I^y ej;CANDIDATE FINANCIAL DISCLOSIII2E FORM ACKNOWLEDGMENT

To bc completed by ail candidates for state officeand state board of edu cation memberR e v i s e d C o d e 1 0 2 . 0 2, 1 0 2. 0 9

Name of can di dat ee Csz 12^{1e_,(

Office sought---- I{'Yvtf,4 (\ PY^eJ '^^ : { . ... . .----- ..

Approximate nu mber of petition signaturesfiled__ c2 --7 50^

Filing i`ee Paid

Date of 6ling_

Name of electionofficiai receivingfiling } j ra n a(L Q wn F E 1 F+rtnc covn5et

CANDIDATE FINANCIAL DISCLOSUI2E FORM ACKNOWLEDGMENT

ParsuanR to ILC. 102.09(A), the Secretary of State is reqnired to furnish to each candidate foreiective office who is required to file a tanancial disclosure statement by B.C. 102.02, a tiaancialdisclosure form and to notify the appropriate ethics commission (Ohio Ethics Commission or Boardof Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline of the Supreme Court of Ohio) within FiReen daysof certification of the natnc of the candidate. The caradidate shall acknowledge receipt of the6nanciai disclosure form in writing.

hereby acknow ledge that the Secretary of State has(Nimic or candidate or compaign ren rescntetive)

provided me with a financiai disclosure statement. Aithough a candidate may authorize asampaignrepresentative to sign this form on behalf of the candidate, under Ohio law the candidate isresponsibie for filing a fiuanciai disclosure statement as required by ILC. 102.02.

^

Dated thisN

( -day of

(Signature of candid^/1--

or campatgn r resentat ve)

EXHIBIT I

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