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Tag: signatures

  • Ohio citizen-led abortion rights amendment takes next step after petition language certified

    Ohio citizen-led abortion rights amendment takes next step after petition language certified

    Getty Image

    BY: OHIO CAPITAL JOURNAL STAFF 

    The Ohio Attorney General’s Office has certified petition summary language for a proposed amendment to protect abortion rights in the state constitution, which organizers hope to place on the November ballot.

    The Ohio Ballot Board will now determine whether or not the initiative only involves changing only one amendment, as required. If approved by the Ballot Board, it gets sent back to the Attorney General, who turns it in to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office, at which point full signature-gathering can begin.

    Advocates must collect signatures from 44 out of 88 counties equal to at least 5% of the total vote cast for the office of governor in that county at the last gubernatorial election. Overall, the petition must gather at least 10% of the total vote cast statewide for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election. This math means that the group needs at least 442,958 valid signatures.

    The drive to protect access to abortion care in Ohio is being spearheaded by Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights.

    Right now, Ohio’s six-week abortion ban is unenforceable due to a Hamilton County judge blocking it indefinitely as the lawsuit against it continues. The bill does not have an exception for rape or incest.

    However, once it gets out of court, it will likely head to the Ohio Supreme Court. An OCJ/WEWS investigation revealed how those justices already told Right to Life groups that abortion isn’t a Constitutional right.

    If the proposed amendment gets to the ballot and is approved by voters, this amendment wouldn’t change existing laws automatically, but it would be the law that applies in all of the pending litigation.

    If passed by voters, Article 1 of the Ohio Constitution would be amended to allow “the right to reproductive freedom,” in a change similar to one approved by Michigan voters last year.

    The groups supporting the ballot initiative are racing to bring the issue before voters before any changes can be made to the threshold needed to place a measure on the ballot. A GOP effort to raise the bar from 50% plus one to 60% plus one has been ongoing, though it’s unclear how long that might take.

    Michigan’s amendment passed with 56.6% of the vote.

    Percentage abortion was protected in other states last year:

    • Kentucky — 52.3%
    • Montana — 52.5%
    • Michigan — 56.6%
    • Kansas — 59%
    • California — 66%
    • Vermont — 76.7%

    Reporting from OCJ’s Susan Tebben and WEWS’ Morgan Trau contributed to this article.

  • Recreational marijuana nearing enough signatures to force lawmakers’ hands

    Recreational marijuana nearing enough signatures to force lawmakers’ hands

    BY: JAKE ZUCKERMAN – Ohio Capital Journal

    A direct-democracy attempt to force the state legislature to act on recreational marijuana will have enough signatures by the month’s end to set a plan in motion, an organizer projected Friday.

    Ohio attorney Thomas Haren, a representative of the “Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol,” said he expects that enough signatures will be gathered to move a proposal forward that would allow for adult use, sale, and possession of marijuana in Ohio.

    “We think that marijuana reform is popular,” he said at a panel hosted by the Ohio State University law school’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center.

    “It’s not a bipartisan issue. It’s a nonpartisan issue.”

    The coalition launched what’s known in Ohio as an initiated statute. It proposed the architecture of a recreational marijuana program in Ohio. If state officials determine the coalition gathered the required 133,000 valid signatures, lawmakers in the Ohio General Assembly get four months to act on the proposal. If lawmakers fail, organizers must gather more signatures to send the proposal to a popular vote by the people at the next general election.

    The Ohio Ballot Board gave organizers the green light in late August to start gathering signatures.

    The proposal allows for the possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana or 15 grams of marijuana extract. Adult Ohioans could purchase marijuana at retail locations or grow two plants at home (four if there are two adults living in the household).

    Marijuana has reached a “tipping point” in the U.S. and the time to climb aboard was yesterday, according to Rep. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson, a lead sponsor of House Democrats’ effort on recreational marijuana.

    Nineteen states and Washington D.C. have legalized marijuana for personal use, according to the advocacy group NORML. Gallup polling indicates 68% of Americans support legalizing marijuana, the highest rate since the polling firm began surveying the issue in 1969. Roughly 83% of surveyed Democrats, 71% of independents and 50% of Republicans indicated support. The Washington Post reported this week that while there’s not yet agreement on its breadth, bipartisan members of Congress are working on significant reforms to the nation’s marijuana laws.

    “This is a situation where we’re behind where Ohioans are,” Weinstein said, noting that the initiated statute might provide the Legislature with a sense of “urgency.”

    History 

    Mary Jane Borden, co-founder of the Natural Therapies Education Foundation, said Ohio lawmakers have a long history slow-walking marijuana legislation until direct democracy attempts force them to act.

    Between 2000 and 2010, seven marijuana bills were introduced, she said. Only one of them received more than a perfunctory introductory hearing.

    In 2016, organizers launched a campaign for a constitutional amendment to allow for the use of medical marijuana in Ohio. They suspended the campaign after Gov. John Kasich signed House Bill 523, which created Ohio’s current program.

    While voters are increasingly supportive of marijuana, lawmakers are decidedly agnostic. Borden cited a recent survey of 41 members from Gongwer News Service (the poll had a 31% response rate and doesn’t necessarily represent the full General Assembly). It found among Democrats, 36% support legalization, compared to 14% who don’t and 50% who are undecided. For Republicans, 43% support legalization, compared to 43% who don’t and 14% who are undecided.

    “Republicans are more favorable on this issue than we might give them credit for,” Haren, who identified himself as a Republican, said.

    With such a mixed take from lawmakers, Borden said the “end-run” of a referendum can spark action.

    “What motivated the change [regarding medical marijuana] was obviously the ballot issue,” she said. “Similar to what [Haren] is doing now.”

    Moving parts 

    Alongside Haren, there are three key items to watch regarding marijuana policy in Ohio.

    For one, House Democrats Weinstein and Terrence Upchurch, D-Cleveland, introduced legislation of their own, with key differences from the initiated statute proposal. Their bill contains an expungement program, allows possession of up to five ounces of marijuana, and others.

    The legislation, introduced in August, has yet to receive its first hearing from the House Finance Committee.

    For two, House Republicans have announced a proposal of their own that’s fairly similar to the Democrats’ plan. When they announced the legislation last month, sponsoring Reps. Jamie Callender, R-Concord, and Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville, acknowledged it’s a moonshot but said they believe they can convince the House Speaker — especially given pressure an initiated statute can provide.

    They have yet to formally introduce a bill. A Callender aide said Friday they’re hoping to get a bill out around Thanksgiving but did not have details on any changes from what was announced.

    Thirdly, a bipartisan group of Ohio Senators earlier this month proposed a broad expansion of the current medical marijuana program. Their bill would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana whenever they “reasonably” believe a patient might benefit. A Senate committee held its first hearing on the bill last week.