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A Board of Elections error means voters will see incorrect ballot text for the Alexander school levy

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — The Athens County Board of Elections held an emergency meeting Saturday with officials from Alexander Local Schools after discovering an error in the ballot language for the school district’s much-needed operating levy.

The Alexander levy taxes 1% of earned income for individuals living in the district. However, that’s not what voters in the district see when they go to cast a ballot on whether to renew the tax, which expires this year. Instead, they see this:

Shall an annual income tax of 1 per cent on the school district income of individuals and estates be imposed by Alexander Local School District to renew an income tax expiring at the end of 2024 for 5 years, beginning January 1, 2025 for the purpose of providing for the current operating expenses of the school district?

This language is not correct. The bolded section above should read: “on the earned income of individuals residing in the school district.” If the levy passes, that is what will be taxed. Estates will not be taxed, even though the ballot language says otherwise.

The Board of Elections was quick to absolve Alexander Local School District of any responsibility for the mistake.

“We fell below our own standards,” said board chair Sky Pettey.

Deputy Director Tony Brooks said it was his mistake that put the wrong language on the ballot. The Board of Elections uses fill-in-the-blank templates for levies such as this one. The template for a school district income tax levy includes the phrase “school district income of individuals and estates.” A note had been made to update the wording to match what Alexander Local Schools had filed, but Brooks overlooked it.

A copy of the template the Board of Elections used to draft the ballot language for the Alexander levy. There is a note below the template to adapt the wording to what Alexander submitted.
This is a copy of the template the Board of Elections used to draft the ballot language for the Alexander levy. There is a note below the template to adapt the wording for an earned income tax like Alexander’s. That note is what Deputy Director Brooks said he overlooked. [Theo Peck-Suzuki | WOUB/Report for America]
Board Director Debra Quivey acknowledged the board’s error but noted that the Ohio Secretary of State’s office should have caught the mistake, as well.

“We depend on them,” Quivey said. “They take what’s filed with Alexander, they look at what we have and they compare it. They are the final OK.”

Alexander filed the levy correctly, and the Secretary of State’s office should have seen that there was a discrepancy between that filing and what the Board of Elections was putting on the ballot. It did not, and instead signed off on the board’s incorrect text.

A scanned copy showing that the Secretary of State's office approved the incorrect ballot language for the Alexander school levy.
This is a scanned copy showing that the Secretary of State’s office approved the incorrect ballot language for the Alexander levy. The office should have compared the language to what Alexander submitted and seen the discrepancy. [Theo Peck-Suzuki | WOUB Public Media]
The entire situation is precisely what officials from Alexander Local Schools did not want in the run-up to what will likely be a very close vote. The operating levy failed five times before finally passing by a single vote in 2019. It came up for renewal in November and was voted down, prompting the district to try again this spring.

If the levy fails again, the district warns it will have to make drastic cuts to staffing and supports for students.

Board of Elections member Gary VanMeter summed up the quandary for the school district.

“I’ve stayed pretty much abreast of this whole levy that you’ve got going out there,” he said, “and I’ve heard the ballot language repeated over and over and over: ‘It’s only earned income.’ And if I was going to vote today, and I read this, I would really question what’s on the ballot right now.”

VanMeter asked Alexander School Board Vice President Josh Collins if the district wanted to proceed with the vote.

“I don’t know of any other option,” Collins replied.

Whether the levy passes or fails, there’s a distinct possibility a lawsuit will follow because of the language mixup. Collins said that’s a risk the district is willing to take when the only alternative is to simply forfeit the election.

“There’s a no-brainer,” Collins said.

It’s too late to change the language on the ballot, and nothing can be done about the roughly 300 early and absentee votes that have already been circulated. Nevertheless, the board agreed to place notices at all relevant polling stations to ensure that voters know what’s going on.