You are on page 1of 2

December 30, 2015

Director Sherry Poland


Deputy Director Sally Krisel
Hamilton County Board of Elections
824 Broadway Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Re: Tie Vote on December 21, 2015
Dear Director Poland and Deputy Director Krisel:
At the Hamilton County Board of Elections special meeting on December 21, 2015, the board
considered a motion regarding how the name of a certified candidate for Hamilton County
Commissioner would appear on the ballot. Board Member Triantafilou made a motion to permit
the candidate to appear on the ballot as Dennis Joseph Deters. He and Board Member Gerhardt
voted in favor of the motion, and Board Members Faux and Burke voted against the motion. The
board submitted the tie vote to the Secretary of State for a decision pursuant to R.C. 3501.11(X).
Board members Burke and Faux submit elections-related documents, professional licensures, and
miscellaneous government records that bear the name Dennis P. Deters. They advance the
legal notion that State ex rel. Miller v. Cuyahoga County Board of Elections is persuasive.1 It is
not.
Miller involved a prospective candidate who adopted a brand new middle name that the board
determined was intended to deceive voters. Here, the tie involves Mr. Deters request to use his
name given at birth, as it appears on his birth certificate.
In a community where a world-class professional athlete can legally change his name to his
jersey number, surely that same communitys candidates for public office can appear on the
ballot under their given name.

State ex rel. Miller v. Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, 103 Ohio St.3d 477 (2004).

Page 2 of 2

The analysis of this question starts and ends with the candidates legal name: Dennis Patrick
Joseph Deters. I therefore break the tie in favor of permitting the name Dennis Joseph Deters,
as a derivative of his legal name, to be printed on the March 15, 2016 Primary Election ballot for
nomination as the Republican candidate for Hamilton County Commissioner (FTC 1/3/2017).
Sincerely,

Jon Husted

cc: Members of the Hamilton County Board of Elections

You might also like