1a. The first aforestated power reserved by the | 16 |
people is designated
the initiative, and the signatures of ten per | 17 |
centum of the electors shall be
required upon a petition to | 18 |
propose an amendment to the constitution. When a
petition signed | 19 |
by the aforesaid required number of electors, shall have been | 20 |
filed with the secretary of state, and verified as herein | 21 |
provided, proposing
an amendment to the constitution, the full | 22 |
text of which shall have been set
forth in such petition, the | 23 |
secretary of state shall submit for the approval
or rejection of | 24 |
the electors, the proposed amendment, in the manner
hereinafter | 25 |
provided, at the next succeeding regular or general election in | 26 |
any year occurring subsequent to ninetyone hundred twenty-five | 27 |
days
after the filing of such
petition. The initiative petitions, | 28 |
above
described, shall have printed
across the top thereof: | 29 |
"Amendment
to the Constitution Proposed by Initiative
Petition to | 30 |
be
Submitted Directly to the Electors." | 31 |
Section 1b. When at any time, not less than ten days prior | 32 |
to the
commencement of any session of the general assembly, there | 33 |
shall have been
filed with the secretary of state a petition | 34 |
signed by three per centum of the
electors and verified as herein | 35 |
provided, proposing a law, the full text of
which shall have been | 36 |
set forth in such petition, the secretary of state shall
transmit | 37 |
the same to the general assembly as soon as it convenes. If said | 38 |
proposed law shall be passed by the general assembly, either as | 39 |
petitioned for
or in an amended form, it shall be subject to the | 40 |
referendum. If it shall not
be passed, or if it shall be passed in | 41 |
an amended form, or if no action shall
be taken thereon within | 42 |
four months from the time it is received by the
general assembly, | 43 |
it shall be submitted by the secretary of state to the
electors | 44 |
for their approval or rejection at the next regular or general | 45 |
election, if such submission shall be demanded by supplementary | 46 |
petition
verified as herein provided and signed by not less than | 47 |
three per centum of
the electors in addition to those signing the | 48 |
original petition, which
supplementary petition must be signed and | 49 |
filed with the secretary of state
within ninety days after the | 50 |
proposed law shall have been rejected by the
general assembly or | 51 |
after the expiration of such term of four months, if no
action has | 52 |
been taken thereon, or after the law as passed by the general | 53 |
assembly shall have been filed by the governor in the office of | 54 |
the secretary
of state. The proposed law shall be submitted at the | 55 |
next regular or general election occurring subsequent to one | 56 |
hundred twenty-five days after the supplementary petition is filed | 57 |
in
the form demanded by such
supplementary petition, which form | 58 |
shall
be either as first petitioned for or
with any amendment or | 59 |
amendments which may have been incorporated therein by
either | 60 |
branch or by both branches, of the general assembly. If a proposed | 61 |
law
so submitted is approved by a majority of the electors voting | 62 |
thereon, it
shall be the law and shall go into effect as herein | 63 |
provided in lieu of any
amended form of said law which may have | 64 |
been passed by the general assembly,
and such amended law passed | 65 |
by the general assembly shall not go into effect
until and unless | 66 |
the law proposed by supplementary petition shall have been | 67 |
rejected by the electors. All such initiative petitions, last | 68 |
above
described, shall have printed across the top thereof, in | 69 |
case of proposed
laws: "Law Proposed by Initiative Petition First | 70 |
to be Submitted
to the General Assembly." Ballots shall be so | 71 |
printed as to permit an
affirmative or negative vote upon each | 72 |
measure submitted to the electors. Any
proposed law or amendment | 73 |
to the constitution submitted to the electors as
provided in 1a | 74 |
and 1b, if approved by a majority of the electors voting
thereon, | 75 |
shall take effect thirty days after the election at which it was | 76 |
approved and shall be published by the secretary of state. If | 77 |
conflicting
proposed laws or conflicting proposed amendments to | 78 |
the constitution shall be
approved at the same election by a | 79 |
majority of the total number of votes cast
for and against the | 80 |
same, the one receiving the highest number of affirmative
votes | 81 |
shall be the law, or in the case of amendments to the constitution | 82 |
shall
be the amendment to the constitution. No law proposed by | 83 |
initiative petition
and approved by the electors shall be subject | 84 |
to the veto of the governor. | 85 |
Section 1c. The second aforestated power reserved by the | 86 |
people is designated
the referendum, and the signatures of six per | 87 |
centum of the electors shall be
required upon a petition to order | 88 |
the submission to the electors of the state
for their approval or | 89 |
rejection, of any law, section of any law or any item in
any law | 90 |
appropriating money passed by the general assembly. No law passed | 91 |
by
the general assembly shall go into effect until ninety days | 92 |
after it shall
have been filed by the governor in the office of | 93 |
the secretary of state,
except as herein provided. When a | 94 |
petition, signed by six per centum of the
electors of the state | 95 |
and verified as herein provided, shall have been filed
with the | 96 |
secretary of state within ninety days after any law shall have | 97 |
been
filed by the governor in the office of the secretary of | 98 |
state, ordering that
such law, section of such law or any item in | 99 |
such law appropriating money be
submitted to the electors of the | 100 |
state for their approval or rejection, the
secretary of state | 101 |
shall submit to the electors of the state for their
approval or | 102 |
rejection such law, section or item, in the manner herein | 103 |
provided, at the next succeeding regular or general
election in | 104 |
any year occurring subsequent to sixtyone hundred twenty-five | 105 |
days
after the filing of
such petition, and no such law, section | 106 |
or
item shall go into effect until and
unless approved by a | 107 |
majority
of those voting upon the same. If, however, a
referendum | 108 |
petition
is filed against any such section or item, the remainder | 109 |
of the
law shall not thereby be prevented or delayed from going | 110 |
into
effect. | 111 |
Section 1g. Any initiative, supplementary, or referendum | 112 |
petition may be
presented in separate parts but each part shall | 113 |
contain a full and correct
copy of the title, and text of the law, | 114 |
section or item thereof sought to be
referred, or the proposed law | 115 |
or proposed amendment to the constitution. Each
signer of any | 116 |
initiative, supplementary, or referendum petition must be an | 117 |
elector of the state and shall place on such petition after his | 118 |
name the date
of signing and his place of residence. A signer | 119 |
residing outside of a
municipality shall state the county and the | 120 |
rural route number, post office
address, or township of his | 121 |
residence. A resident of a municipality shall
state the street and | 122 |
number, if any, of his residence and the name of the
municipality | 123 |
or post office address. The names of all signers to such
petitions | 124 |
shall be written in ink, each signer for himself. To each part of | 125 |
such petition shall be attached the statement of the circulator, | 126 |
as may be
required by law, that he witnessed the affixing of every | 127 |
signature. The secretary of state shall determine the sufficiency | 128 |
of the signatures not later than one hundred five days before the | 129 |
election. | 130 |
No law or
amendment to the constitution submitted to the | 157 |
electors
by initiative and
supplementary petition and receiving | 158 |
an
affirmative majority of the votes cast
thereon, shall be held | 159 |
unconstitutional or void on account of the
insufficiency of the | 160 |
petitions by which such submission of the same was
procured; nor | 161 |
shall the rejection of any law submitted by referendum petition
be | 162 |
held invalid for such insufficiency. Upon all initiative, | 163 |
supplementary,
and
referendum petitions provided for in any of the | 164 |
sections of
this article, it shall be necessary to file from each | 165 |
of one-half of the
counties of the state, petitions bearing the | 166 |
signatures of not less than
one-half of the designated percentage | 167 |
of the electors of such county. A true
copy of all laws or | 168 |
proposed laws or proposed amendments to the constitution,
together | 169 |
with an argument or explanation, or both, for, and also an | 170 |
argument
or explanation, or both, against the same, shall be | 171 |
prepared. The person or
persons who prepare the argument or | 172 |
explanation, or both, against any law,
section, or item, submitted | 173 |
to the electors by referendum petition, may be
named in such | 174 |
petition and the persons who prepare the argument or
explanation, | 175 |
or both, for any proposed law or proposed amendment to the | 176 |
constitution may be named in the petition proposing the same. The | 177 |
person or
persons who prepare the argument or explanation, or | 178 |
both, for the law,
section, or item, submitted to the electors by | 179 |
referendum petition, or
against any proposed law submitted by | 180 |
supplementary petition, shall be named
by the general assembly, if | 181 |
in session, and if not in session then by the
governor. The law, | 182 |
or proposed law, or proposed amendment to the
constitution, | 183 |
together with the arguments and explanations, not exceeding a | 184 |
total of three hundred words for each, and also the arguments and | 185 |
explanations, not exceeding a total of three hundred words against | 186 |
each, shall
be published once a week for
three consecutive weeks | 187 |
preceding the election, in at least one newspaper of
general | 188 |
circulation in each county of the state, where a newspaper is | 189 |
published. The secretary of state shall cause to be placed upon | 190 |
the ballots,
the ballot language for any such law, or proposed | 191 |
law, or proposed amendment
to the constitution, to be submitted. | 192 |
The ballot language shall be prescribed
by the Ohio ballot board | 193 |
in the same manner, and subject to the same terms and
conditions, | 194 |
as apply to issues submitted by the general assembly pursuant to | 195 |
Section 1 of Article XVI of this constitution. The ballot language | 196 |
shall be
so prescribed and the secretary of state shall cause the | 197 |
ballots so to be
printed as to permit an affirmative or negative | 198 |
vote upon each law, section of
law, or item in a law appropriating | 199 |
money, or proposed law, or proposed
amendment to the constitution. | 200 |
The style of all laws submitted by initiative
and supplementary | 201 |
petition shall be: "Be it Enacted by the People of the
State of | 202 |
Ohio," and of all constitutional amendments: "Be it Resolved by | 203 |
the
People of the State of Ohio." The basis upon which the | 204 |
required number of
petitioners in any case shall be determined | 205 |
shall be the total number of votes
cast for the office of governor | 206 |
at the last preceding election therefor. The
foregoing provisions | 207 |
of this section shall be self-executing, except as herein | 208 |
otherwise provided. Laws may be passed to facilitate their | 209 |
operation, but in
no way limiting or restricting either such | 210 |
provisions or the powers herein
reserved. | 211 |