ELECTION DAY: SHTU President Covets Swing Votes as Election Day Winds Down

Mark Zetzer couldn't predict the election one way or another by late afternoon, but he made at least one telling statement as he placed more 'Vote No' signs outside .

"I say it's possible, more than any other time, that we could defeat this," said Zetzer, president of the Shaker Heights Taxpayers Union.

Zetzer and at least three others spent the day placing signs at the city's and trying to tell people why they shouldn't vote for the 0.5 percent income tax increase proposed in Issue 1. He says that message is going over well, though he's aware of the "Shaker tradition" of voters typically passing levies.

"We're saying, 'it's not a bad idea to break tradition if you want to save the community,'" he said. "I've got people who said, 'I've voted for every levy in the past, but I can't vote for this one because enough is enough and I'm tapped out.'"

Securing more of those types of votes could seal the deal in the polls' final hours, Zetzer said.

"There are always the people who voted against it, but we're getting support from people who voted for them in the past — that's the key," he said.

"People are swinging."

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