Court Reverses Judge’s Harmful Ruling on Statewide Ballot Issues

Earlier this summer, we reported that the OMA was leading an important fight against attempts to erode Ohio’s petition process and the validity of ballot security. The OMA and other business groups filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief that supported the state’s appeal of a judge’s ruling that would have allowed electronic signature collections (instead of in-person signatures) for pending ballot measures, while extending the signature deadlines.

This would have dealt a blow to Ohio’s interests by providing a lifeline to out-of-state special interest groups seeking to change the Ohio Constitution to legalize marijuana, impose a $13/hour minimum wage, allow for same-day voter registration, among other actions.

This week, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the harmful ruling from the lower court, which overstepped its bounds when it effectively tried to rewrite Ohio’s constitution. As of the deadline for this Leadership Briefing, it was unclear whether the lawyers for the out-of-state interests will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. 9/17/2020