(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today issued certification of the summary language for a referendum seeking the repeal of House Bill 7. The certification was issued today in a letter sent to Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted and the petitioners.
On June 10th, referendum petitions were filed with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State. The Attorney General is only statutorily required to review whether the referendum summary is “fair and truthful.” On referenda, the Secretary of State reviews the petition to determine if 1,000 valid signatures were submitted.
“It is my statutory duty is to determine whether the submitted summary ‘is a fair and truthful statement of the measure to be referred,’” DeWine stated in his letters. “Without passing upon the advisability of the approval or rejection of the measure to be referred,…I hereby certify that the summary is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed referendum concerning Sub. H.B. 7 of the 130th General Assembly.”
In order for the certified referendum to proceed, the petitioners must collect signatures from registered voters in each of 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, equal to 3 percent 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 6 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election. The petition, containing at least the minimum number of signatures, must be filed with the Secretary of State not later than the effective date of the legislation, which is 90 days after it was enrolled with the Secretary.
The full text of today’s letters and of the initiative petitions submitted can be found at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/BallotInitiatives.
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