Proposed Amendment that would Make Changes to Ohio’s Election Laws Certified

Proposed Amendment that would Make Changes to Ohio’s Election Laws Certified

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Attorney General’s Office today certified a resubmitted summary of a petition for a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that would make changes to Ohio’s election laws.

On Feb. 10, 2020, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office received a written petition to amend the Ohio Constitution, entitled “The Secure and Fair Elections Amendment,” from the attorney representing the petitioning committee. The initial submission was received on Jan. 22 and rejected on Jan. 31 due to deficiencies in the petition summary. The resubmitted petition was certified today as containing both the necessary 1,000 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters and a “fair and truthful” summary of the proposed amendment.

“Without passing on the advisability of the approval or rejection of the measure … I hereby certify that the summary is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment,” Attorney General Dave Yost said in the letter certifying the petition.

Once the summary language is certified by the attorney general’s office and the initial signatures are verified by the county boards of elections, the Ohio Ballot Board must determine if the amendment contains a single issue or multiple issues. The petitioners must then collect signatures for each issue from registered voters in each of 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, equal to 5% of the total vote cast in the county for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election. Total signatures collected statewide must also equal 10% of the total vote cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election.

One of the things that would change if the proposed amendment passes would be to remove the provision that citizens be registered to vote for 30 days prior to the election to vote, registration would still be required. The entire proposed petition can be seen below.