Republicans Voting on Council Vacancy Again Because of Secret Ballot Scrutiny

On Thursday, the Summit County Republican Central Committee will vote again — presumably for Arden Barnhart, to fill the vacant Ward 3 Cuyahoga Falls City Council position. 

Barnhart was elected to replace her husband Ken by secret ballot instead of a public roll call in May. 

“I do not expect the outcome to change,” Mayor Don Robart said in a May 29 email to the Cuyahoga Falls News-Press, “but the Republican Party has determined that it is preferable to simply have another vote.”

 So why does Barnhart need to be voted in again?

The Republican party posted this note with the meeting notice:

“We have learned that the Democratic Party plans to challenge this secret ballot under Ohio’s open meeting law. Therefore, to avoid this challenge we must meet again with our vote being a public vote and not a secret ballot.”

For more information, read the full Falls-News Press story.