COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court, without comment Wednesday, denied a motion to reconsider its ruling against ordering the Trumbull County Board of Elections to place four referendum issues on the Nov. 3 ballot in Newton Falls.

The board had earlier rejected ballot petitions that had been filed by James Luonuansuu and Patrick Layshock, a former Newton Falls mayor, which led to the litigation.

The state supreme court rejected their legal filing earlier this month.

The issues the two sought for the ballot included expenditures for bonds to purchase a former church that would become the new village hall, the spending of more than $3 million to upgrade water and electric meters, and changes in the status and salary of the village law director.

In its earlier denial of the referendum motions, the high court determined the two lacked sufficient evidence to justify a writ that would order the board to put the issues on the ballot.

In their motion for reconsideration, Luonuansuu and Layshock claimed the court “erred in judgment” by determining the evidence presented was “insufficient.”

They argued that the board of elections “violated state law in its rejection of referenda on these ordinances.”

The two had filed their reconsideration pro se, meaning that they filed without legal counsel.

21 News was unable to reach Luonuansuu for comment.