No justice in Athens County as residents are denied right to vote on qualified citizen initiative
This press release by The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) was published, August 17th, 2018.
ATHENS, OHIO: On August 8th, the Fourth District Court of Appeals dismissed the Athens County Bill of Rights Committee’s (ACBORC) appeal to place their rights-based county charter initiative on the ballot. Athens County residents were denied the right to vote on forming a county charter government in the November 2017 election. The Athens Board of Elections and the Common Pleas Court blocked the people’s initiative, which also banned fracking wastewater injection wells, despite residents duly qualifying the measure.
The appellate court claimed there was a technical mistake made at the Common Pleas Court, thereby justifying the higher court’s refusal to issue a decision. ACBORC asks why the court took more than six months to decide not to decide.