TARTA files suit against Lucas County Board of Elections

The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority has sued the Lucas County Board of Elections to allow residents of the city of Sylvania to vote on a referendum allowing Sylvania Township to withdraw from the transit authority.

The lawsuit filed Monday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court contends that the township's resolution to place the withdrawal question on the Nov. 6 ballot was passed by township trustees before a new state law took effect that permits residents of only the unincorporated portions of townships to vote on such questions.

TARTA issued a statement explaining that as presented on the ballot, the referendum is subject to legal challenge after the vote.

"The authority has taken this step to ensure the election is proper and not subject to challenge at a later date," general manager James Gee said in a statement, adding later, "TARTA would have mounted this challenge earlier, but it was not until it saw the ballot language that the issue came to our attention."

Spencer Township also has a TARTA withdrawal resolution on its Nov. 6 ballot, but no part of Spencer is incorporated as a village or city.

The case has been assigned to Judge Dean Mandros.