To amend sections 3501.38, 3503.06, 3503.14, 3513.07, and 3513.261 and to enact sections 3501.381 and 3599.111 of the Revised Code to cure omissions in and otherwise clarify the law regarding circulation of election petitions.

Section 1. That sections 3501.38, 3503.06, 3503.14, 3513.07, and 3513.261 be amended and that sections 3501.381 and 3599.111 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 3501.38.  All declarations of candidacy, nominating petitions, or other petitions presented to or filed with the secretary of state or a board of elections or with any other public office for the purpose of becoming a candidate for any nomination or office or for the holding of an election on any issue shall, in addition to meeting the other specific requirements prescribed in the sections of the Revised Code relating to them, be governed by the following rules:

(A) Only electors qualified to vote on the candidacy or issue which is the subject of the petition shall sign a petition. Each signer shall be a registered elector pursuant to section 3503.11 of the Revised Code. The facts of qualification shall be determined as of the date when the petition is filed.

(B) Signatures shall be affixed in ink. Each signer may also print the signer's name, so as to clearly identify the signer's signature.

(C) Each signer shall place on the petition after the signer's name the date of signing and the location of the signer's voting residence, including the street and number if in a municipal corporation or the rural route number, post office address, or township if outside a municipal corporation. The voting address given on the petition shall be the address appearing in the registration records at the board of elections.

(D) No person shall write any name other than the person's own on any petition. No person may authorize another to sign for the person. Where If a petition contains the signature of an elector two or more times, only the first signature shall be counted.

(E)(1) On each petition paper, the circulator shall indicate the number of signatures contained on it, and shall sign a statement made under penalty of election falsification that the circulator witnessed the affixing of every signature, that all signers were to the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief qualified to sign, and that every signature is to the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief the signature of the person whose signature it purports to be. On the circulator's statement for a declaration of candidacy, nominating petition, or declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate for a person seeking to become a statewide candidate or for a statewide initiative or a statewide referendum petition, the circulator shall identify the name and address of the person employing the circulator to circulate the petition, if any.

(2) As used in division (E) of this section, "statewide candidate" means the joint candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor or a candidate for the office of secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, or attorney general.

(F) If a circulator knowingly permits an unqualified person to sign a petition paper or permits a person to write a name other than the person's own on a petition paper, that petition paper is invalid; otherwise, the signature of a person not qualified to sign shall be rejected but shall not invalidate the other valid signatures on the paper.

(G) The circulator of a petition may, before filing it in a public office, strike from it any signature the circulator does not wish to present as a part of the petition.

(H) Any signer of a petition may remove the signer's signature from that petition at any time before the petition is filed in a public office by striking the signer's name from the petition; no signature may be removed after the petition is filed in any public office.

(I)(1) No alterations, corrections, or additions may be made to a petition after it is filed in a public office.

(2) No petition may be withdrawn after it is filed in a public office. Nothing in this division prohibits a person from withdrawing as a candidate as otherwise provided by law.

(J)(1) All declarations of candidacy, nominating petitions, or other petitions under this section shall be accompanied by the following statement in boldface capital letters: WHOEVER COMMITS ELECTION FALSIFICATION IS GUILTY OF A FELONY OF THE FIFTH DEGREE.

(2) All declarations of candidacy, nominating petitions, or other petitions under this section shall be accompanied by the following statement in boldface capital letters: THE CIRCULATOR OF THIS PETITION IS PROHIBITED BY LAW FROM RECEIVING COMPENSATION ON A FEE PER SIGNATURE OR FEE PER VOLUME BASIS.

(K) All separate petition papers shall be filed at the same time, as one instrument.

(L) If a board of elections distributes for use a petition form for a declaration of candidacy, nominating petition, declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate, or any type of question or issue petition that does not satisfy the requirements of law as of the date of that distribution, the board shall not invalidate the petition on the basis that the petition form does not satisfy the requirements of law, if the petition otherwise is valid. Division (L) of this section applies only if the candidate received the petition from the board within ninety days of when the petition is required to be filed.

Sec. 3501.381. (A)(1) Any person who will receive compensation for supervising, managing, or otherwise organizing any effort to obtain signatures for a declaration of candidacy, nominating petition, or declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate for a person seeking to become a statewide candidate or for a statewide initiative petition or a statewide referendum petition shall file a statement to that effect with the office of the secretary of state before any signatures are obtained for the petition or before the person is engaged to supervise, manage, or otherwise organize the effort to obtain signatures for the petition, whichever is later.

(2) Any person who will compensate a person for supervising, managing, or otherwise organizing any effort to obtain signatures for a declaration of candidacy, nominating petition, or declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate for a person seeking to become a statewide candidate or for a statewide initiative or a statewide referendum petition shall file a statement to that effect with the office of the secretary of state before any signatures are obtained for the petition or before the person engages a person to supervise, manage, or otherwise organize the effort to obtain signatures for the petition, whichever is later.

(B) The secretary of state shall prescribe the form and content of the statements required under division (A) of this section. The form shall include a notice that no person shall be compensated on a fee per signature or fee per volume basis.

(C) Whoever violates division (A) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, and the petition for which a person was paid compensation shall be deemed invalid.

(D) As used in this section, "statewide candidate" means the joint candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor or a candidate for the office of secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, or attorney general.

Sec. 3503.06. (A) No person shall be entitled to vote at any election, or to sign or circulate any declaration of candidacy or any nominating, initiative, referendum, or recall petition, unless the person is registered as an elector and will have resided in the county and precinct where the person is registered for at least thirty days at the time of the next election.

(B) No person shall be entitled to circulate any declaration of candidacy or any nominating or recall petition unless the person is registered as an elector and will have resided in the county and precinct where the person is registered for at least thirty days at the time of the next election.

(C) No person shall be entitled to circulate any initiative or referendum petition unless the person has been a resident of this state for at least thirty days before the person circulates the petition.

Sec. 3503.14.  (A) The secretary of state shall prescribe the form and content of the registration and change of residence and change of name form used in this state. The form shall set forth the eligibility requirements needed to qualify as an elector and meet the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The form shall include a space on which the person registering an applicant shall sign the person's name and a space on which the person registering an applicant shall name the employer who is employing that person to register the applicant. The form also shall include a notice that no person shall be compensated on a fee per registration or fee per volume basis for registering an applicant. No election official or employee of a designated agency who is registering an applicant shall be required to sign the election official's or employee's name or to name the employer who is employing the election official or employee to register an applicant on a form prepared under this section.

(B) Any applicant who is unable to sign his the applicant's own name shall make an "X," if possible, which shall be certified by the signing of the name of the applicant by the person filling out the registration form, who shall add his the person's own signature. If an applicant is unable to make an "X," he the applicant shall indicate in some manner that he the applicant desires to register to vote or to change his the applicant's name or residence. The person registering such an the applicant shall sign the form and attest that the applicant indicated that he the applicant desired to register to vote or to change his the applicant's name or residence.

(C) No registration and change of residence and change of name form shall be rejected solely on the basis that a person registering an applicant failed to sign the person's name or failed to name the employer who is employing that person to register the applicant as required under division (A) of this section.

(D) As used in this section, "registering an applicant" includes any effort, for compensation, to provide voter registration forms or to assist persons in completing those forms or returning them to the board of elections, the office of the secretary of state, or other appropriate public office.

Sec. 3513.07.  The form of declaration of candidacy and petition of a person desiring to be a candidate for a party nomination or a candidate for election to an office or position to be voted for at a primary election shall be substantially as follows:

I, ........................... (Name of Candidate), the undersigned, hereby declare under penalty of election falsification that my voting residence is in ............... precinct of the ............................. (Township) or (Ward and City or Village) in the county of ................, Ohio; that my voting residence is ............... (Street and Number, if any, or Rural Route and Number) of the ............................. (City or Village) of ................., Ohio; and that I am a qualified elector in the precinct in which my voting residence is located. I am a member of the ........ Party. I hereby declare that I desire to be .................... (a candidate for nomination as a candidate of the Party for election to the office of .............) (a candidate for election to the office or position of ..............) for the ............ in the state, district, (Full term or unexpired term ending ...............) county, city, or village of ..................., at the primary election to be held on the ............. day of ........., ...., and I hereby request that my name be printed upon the official primary election ballot of the said .......... Party as a candidate for ......... (such nomination) or (such election) as provided by law.

I further declare that, if elected to said office or position, I will qualify therefor, and that I will support and abide by the principles enunciated by the ............ Party.

Dated this .......... day of ................., .........

WHOEVER COMMITS ELECTION FALSIFICATION IS GUILTY OF A FELONY OF THE FIFTH DEGREE.

We, the undersigned, qualified electors of the state of Ohio, whose voting residence is in the county, city, village, ward, township, or school district, and precinct set opposite our names, and members of the ....................................... Party, hereby certify that ............................ (Name of candidate) whose declaration of candidacy is filed herewith, is a member of the ............ Party, and is, in our opinion, well qualified to perform the duties of the office or position to which that candidate desires to be elected.

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....................................... (Name of circulator of petition), declares under penalty of election falsification that the circulator of the petition is a qualified elector of the state of Ohio and resides at the address appearing below the signature of that circulator; that the circulator is a member of the ........... Party; that the circulator is the circulator of the foregoing petition paper containing ............. (Number) signatures; that the circulator will not be compensated on a fee per signature or fee per volume basis; that the circulator witnessed the affixing of every signature; that all signers were to the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief qualified to sign; and that every signature is to the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief the signature of the person whose signature it purports to be.

WHOEVER COMMITS ELECTION FALSIFICATION IS GUILTY OF A FELONY OF THE FIFTH DEGREE.

THE CIRCULATOR OF THIS PETITION IS PROHIBITED BY LAW FROM RECEIVING COMPENSATION ON A FEE PER SIGNATURE OR FEE PER VOLUME BASIS."

The secretary of state shall prescribe a form of declaration of candidacy and petition, and the form shall be substantially similar to the declaration of candidacy and petition set forth in this section, that will be suitable for joint candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor.

The petition provided for in this section shall be circulated only by a member of the same political party as the candidate.

Sec. 3513.261.  A nominating petition may consist of one or more separate petition papers, each of which shall be substantially in the form prescribed in this section. If the petition consists of more than one separate petition paper, the statement of candidacy of the candidate or joint candidates named need be signed by the candidate or joint candidates on only one of such separate petition papers, but the statement of candidacy so signed shall be copied on each other separate petition paper before the signatures of electors are placed on it. Each nominating petition containing signatures of electors of more than one county shall consist of separate petition papers each of which shall contain signatures of electors of only one county; provided that petitions containing signatures of electors of more than one county shall not thereby be declared invalid. In case petitions containing signatures of electors of more than one county are filed, the board of elections shall determine the county from which the majority of the signatures came, and only signatures from this county shall be counted. Signatures from any other county shall be invalid.

All signatures on nominating petitions shall be written in ink or indelible pencil.

At the time of filing a nominating petition, the candidate designated in the nominating petition, and joint candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, shall pay to the election officials with whom it is filed the fees specified for the office under divisions (A) and (B) of section 3513.10 of the Revised Code. The fees shall be disposed of by those election officials in the manner that is provided in section 3513.10 of the Revised Code for the disposition of other fees, and in no case shall a fee required under that section be returned to a candidate.

Candidates or joint candidates whose names are written on the ballot, and who are elected, shall pay the same fees under section 3513.10 of the Revised Code that candidates who file nominating petitions pay. Payment of these fees shall be a condition precedent to the granting of their certificates of election.

Each nominating petition shall contain a statement of candidacy that shall be signed by the candidate or joint candidates named in it. Such statement of candidacy shall contain a declaration made under penalty of election falsification that the candidate desires to be a candidate for the office named in it, and that the candidate is an elector qualified to vote for the office the candidate seeks.

The form of the nominating petition and statement of candidacy shall be substantially as follows:

I, ................................... (Name of candidate), the undersigned, hereby declare under penalty of election falsification that my voting residence is in ................ .......... Precinct of the ......................... (Township) or (Ward and City, or Village) in the county of ............... Ohio; that my post-office address is ............................ (Street and Number, if any, or Rural Route and Number) of the ............................... (City, Village, or post office) of ...................., Ohio; and that I am a qualified elector in the precinct in which my voting residence is located. I hereby declare that I desire to be a candidate for election to the office of .............. in the ........................ (State, District, County, City, Village, Township, or School District) for the ...................................... (Full term or unexpired term ending ................) at the General Election to be held on the ........... day of ..............., ....

I further declare that I am an elector qualified to vote for the office I seek. Dated this ....... day of .............., ....

WHOEVER COMMITS ELECTION FALSIFICATION IS GUILTY OF A FELONY OF THE FIFTH DEGREE.

I, ................................., hereby constitute the persons named below a committee to represent me:

We, the undersigned, qualified electors of the state of Ohio, whose voting residence is in the County, City, Village, Ward, Township or Precinct set opposite our names, hereby nominate .................... as a candidate for election to the office of ........................... in the ............................ (State, District, County, City, Village, Township, or School District) for the ................. (Full term or unexpired term ending ...................) to be voted for at the general election next hereafter to be held, and certify that this person is, in our opinion, well qualified to perform the duties of the office or position to which the person desires to be elected.

..........................., declares under penalty of election falsification that such person is a qualified elector of the state of Ohio and resides at the address appearing below such person's signature hereto; that such person is the circulator of the foregoing petition paper containing ................ signatures; that such person as circulator will not be compensated on a fee per signature or fee per volume basis; that such person witnessed the affixing of every signature; that all signers were to the best of such person's knowledge and belief qualified to sign; and that every signature is to the best of such person's knowledge and belief the signature of the person whose signature it purports to be.

WHOEVER COMMITS ELECTION FALSIFICATION IS GUILTY OF A FELONY OF THE FIFTH DEGREE.

THE CIRCULATOR OF THIS PETITION IS PROHIBITED BY LAW FROM RECEIVING COMPENSATION ON A FEE PER SIGNATURE OR FEE PER VOLUME BASIS."

The secretary of state shall prescribe a form of nominating petition for a group of candidates for the office of member of a board of education, township office, and offices of municipal corporations of under two thousand population.

The secretary of state shall prescribe a form of statement of candidacy and nominating petition, which shall be substantially similar to the form of statement of candidacy and nominating petition set forth in this section, that will be suitable for joint candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor.

If such petition nominates a candidate whose election is to be determined by the electors of a county or a district or subdivision within the county, it shall be filed with the board of such county. If the petition nominates a candidate whose election is to be determined by the voters of a subdivision located in more than one county, it shall be filed with the board of the county in which the major portion of the population of such subdivision is located.

If the petition nominates a candidate whose election is to be determined by the electors of a district comprised of more than one county but less than all of the counties of the state, it shall be filed with the board of elections of the most populous county in such district. If the petition nominates a candidate whose election is to be determined by the electors of the state at large, it shall be filed with the secretary of state.

The secretary of state or a board of elections shall not accept for filing a nominating petition of a person seeking to become a candidate if that person, for the same election, has already filed a declaration of candidacy, a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate, or a nominating petition, or has become a candidate through party nomination at a primary election or by the filling of a vacancy under section 3513.30 or 3513.31 of the Revised Code for any state or county office, if the nominating petition is for a state or county office, or for any municipal or township office, for member of a city, local, or exempted village board of education, or for member of a governing board of an educational service center, if the nominating petition is for a municipal or township office, or for member of a city, local, or exempted village board of education, or for member of a governing board of an educational service center.

Sec. 3599.111.  (A) As used in this section, "registering a voter" or "registering voters" includes any effort, for compensation, to provide voter registration forms or to assist persons in completing those forms or returning them to the board of elections, the office of the secretary of state, or other appropriate public office.

(B) No person shall receive compensation on a fee per signature or fee per volume basis for circulating any declaration of candidacy, nominating petition, declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate, initiative petition, referendum petition, recall petition, or any other election-related petition that is filed with or transmitted to a board of elections, the office of the secretary of state, or other appropriate public office.

(C) No person shall receive compensation on a fee per registration or fee per volume basis for registering a voter.

(D) Compensation for collecting signatures on election-related petitions and for registering voters shall be paid solely on the basis of time worked.

(E)(1) Whoever violates division (B) or (C) of this section is guilty of election falsification under section 3599.36 of the Revised Code.

(2) Whoever violates division (D) of this section is guilty of a felony of the fifth degree.

Section 2. That existing sections 3501.38, 3503.06, 3503.14, 3513.07, and 3513.261 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. The versions of sections 3501.38, 3503.14, 3513.07, and 3513.261 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act, and the versions of sections 3501.381 and 3599.111 of the Revised Code, as enacted by this act, prevail over the versions of those sections presented in Am. Sub. H.B. 1 of the Special Session of the 125th General Assembly.