COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio Supreme Court will decide whether to allow the recall vote on Sandra Breymaier, Newton Falls 4th Ward Councilwoman, to go forward June 1 or have the Trumbull County Board of Elections to remove it from the ballot.

The court's decision followed a filing by A. Joseph Fritz, the village law director, Breymaier, and Clerk of Council Kathy King contesting the recall's legality.

In his filing, Fritz argues the vote to set the date for the election could not be official because it was not passed by a majority of council as defined by the Newton Falls charter.

Fritz had made the same argument in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the elections board from certifying the recall last Friday. The board, which cited an opinion from the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office, rejected Fritz's argument and voted to let "the will of the people" decide.

Fritz argued that the council vote on the May 10 meeting on the recall in which two voted in favor, one against, and Breymaier's abstention to avoid a conflict of interest falls short of a majority.

Only four council members of the five were present due to the recent resignation of Tarry Alberini from the at-Large council seat, which has not yet been filled.

Despite Fritz's contention that only three votes can constitute a majority, Mayor Ken Kline ruled that the motion passed and sent a letter to the Board of Elections asking for certification.

Fritz wrote that "two is not more than half of four" in his court filing.

His documentation states that King, the council clerk, should have been the one to deliver or transmit the motion to the elections board, but King did not because she was informed by the law director that the motion had not passed.

As for Kline's letter, Attorney James Lang who represents Fritz, King and Breymaier contends the mayor possessed no authority under the charter or Ohio law to certify to the board that the motion fixing the date of the special recall election had been passed.

The court, which approved Fritz's request for an extradited briefing schedule, ordered the elections board to respond by Wednesday, otherwise, the case will proceed without its response.

That will apparently be the case according to elections Deputy Director Edrea Mientkiewicz. She told 21 News the board has no plans to send a response to the court and recall voting is underway. Mientkiewicz said early voting began Tuesday.

Mayor Kline responded to 21 News and said the situation is "disappointing" and "disgusting" and will wait to see how this plays out in court. 

He said Fritz did not get council's approval to go to the state's highest court. 

21 News left a message for Fritz which has not been returned.