Any initiative, supplementary, or referendum petition
may be presented in separate parts but each part
shall contain a full and correct copy of the title, and
text of the law, section or item thereof sought to be
referred, or the proposed law or proposed amendment
to the constitution. Each signer of any initiative, supplementary,
or referendum petition must be an elector
of the state and shall place on such petition after his
name the date of signing and his place of residence.
A signer residing outside of a municipality shall state
the county and the rural route number, post office address,
or township of his residence. A resident of a municipality
shall state the street and number, if any, of
his residence and the name of the municipality or the
post office address. The names of all signers to such
petitions shall be written in ink, each signer for himself.
To each part of such petition shall be attached the
statement of the circulator, as may be required by law,
that he witnessed the affixing of every signature. The
secretary of state shall determine the sufficiency of the
signatures not later than one hundred five days before
the election.
The Ohio supreme court shall have original, exclusive
jurisdiction over all challenges made to petitions and
signatures upon such petitions under this section. Any
challenge to a petition or signature on a petition shall
be filed not later than ninety-five days before the day
of the election. The court shall hear and rule on any
challenges made to petitions and signatures not later
than eighty-five days before the election. If no ruling
determining the petition or signatures to be insufficient
is issued at least eighty-five days before the election,
the petition and signatures upon such petitions shall be
presumed to be in all respects sufficient.
If the petitions or signatures are determined to be
insufficient, ten additional days shall be allowed for
the filing of additional signatures to such petition. If
additional signatures are filed, the secretary of state
shall determine the sufficiency of those additional signatures
not later than sixty-five days before the election.
Any challenge to the additional signatures shall
be filed not later than fifty-five days before the day
of the election. The court shall hear and rule on any
challenges made to the additional signatures not later
than forty-five days before the election. If no ruling
determining the additional signatures to be insufficient
is issued at least forty-five days before the election, the
petition and signatures shall be presumed to be in all
respects sufficient.
No law or amendment to the constitution submitted
to the electors by initiative and supplementary petition
and receiving an affirmative majority of the votes
cast thereon, shall be held unconstitutional or void on
account of the insufficiency of the petitions by which
such submission of the same was procured; nor shall
the rejection of any law submitted by referendum petition
be held invalid for such insufficiency. Upon all
initiative, supplementary, and referendum petitions
provided for in any of the sections of this article, it
shall be necessary to file from each of one-half of the
counties of the state, petitions bearing the signatures
of not less than one-half of the designated percentage
of the electors of such county. A true copy of all laws
or proposed laws or proposed amendments to the constitution,
together with an argument or explanation,
or both, for, and also an argument or explanation, or
both, against the same, shall be prepared. The person
or persons who prepare the argument or explanation,
or both, against any law, section, or item, submitted
to the electors by referendum petition, may be named
in such petition and the persons who prepare the argument
or explanation, or both, for any proposed law
or proposed amendment to the constitution may be
named in the petition proposing the same. The person
or persons who prepare the argument or explanation,
or both, for the law, section, or item, submitted
to the electors by referendum petition, or against any
proposed law submitted by supplementary petition,
shall be named by the General Assembly, if in session,
and if not in session then by the governor. The law, or
proposed law, or proposed amendment to the constitution,
together with the arguments and explanations,
not exceeding a total of three hundred words for each,
and also the arguments and explanations, not exceeding
a total of three hundred words against each, shall
be published once a week for three consecutive weeks
preceding the election, in at least one newspaper of
general circulation in each county of the state, where
a newspaper is published. The secretary of state shall
cause to be placed upon the ballots, the ballot language
for any such law, or proposed law, or proposed
amendment to the constitution, to be submitted. The
ballot language shall be prescribed by the Ohio ballot
board in the same manner, and subject to the same
terms and conditions, as apply to issues submitted by
the general assembly pursuant to Section 1 of Article
XVI of this constitution: The ballot language shall be
so prescribed and the secretary of state shall cause the
ballots so to be printed as to permit an affirmative or
negative vote upon each law, section of law, or item in
a law appropriating money, or proposed law, or proposed
amendment to the constitution. The style of all
laws submitted by initiative and supplementary petition
shall be: “Be it Enacted by the People of the State
of Ohio,” and of all constitutional amendments: “Be
it Resolved by the People of the State of Ohio.” The
basis upon which the required number of petitioners in
any case shall be determined shall be the total number
of votes cast for the office of governor at the last preceding
election therefore. The foregoing provisions of
this section shall be self-executing, except as herein
otherwise provided. Laws may be passed to facilitate
their operation but in no way limiting or restricting either
such provisions or the powers herein reserved.
Structure Ohio constitution