Synopsis of Committee Amendments

Legislative Service Commission

LSC Synopsis of Senate Amendments

Sub. H.B. 3

126th General Assembly

(S. Rules)

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Voter registration. 2

Mailed notification of general elections. 3

Publication of notice of elections. 4

Boards of elections' web sites. 4

Voting at locations other than a board of elections
            or a precinct polling place
. 4

Use of an attorney in fact by disabled voters. 4

Meaning of "photo identification" 5

Voter identification. 5

Paper precinct finder / precinct voting location guide. 6

Provisional ballots. 6

Use of observers. 6

Absent voter's ballots and armed service absent voter's ballots--in general 7

Absent voter's ballots and armed service absent
            voter's ballots--return of applications
. 7

Election calendars. 7

Nomination and election of municipal court candidates. 7

Secretary of State election instructions and publications. 7

Prohibitions against the Secretary of State and the
             Attorney General serving in certain capacities
. 8

Offenses concerning declarations of candidacy and petitions,
             declarations of intent to be a write-in candidate,
             nominating petitions, and other petitions
. 8

Failure to provide an address. 8

Political party designation form.. 8

Rules for split shifts for judges of elections. 9

Voting machines, marking devices, and automatic tabulating equipment 9

Duplicate candidacy prohibitions. 10

Private causes of action for certain Election Law violations/"harassment
             in violation of the Election Law"
10

Attorney General's authority to commence criminal actions for election fraud. 10

Initiative and referendum petitions. 11

Ohio ballot board approval of initiative petitions—petitions
          must contain only one proposal
11

Attorney General certification of an initiative petition summary. 11

Challenges to certification decisions re:  an initiative or
          referendum petition summary
. 11

Estimate of annual expenditure of public funds proposed,
          and estimate of annual yield of proposed taxes
. 12

Form of petition. 12

Petition circulator and signer residency requirements. 12

Signature requirements. 12

Deadlines for submission of arguments or explanations. 13

Posting of information on the Secretary of State’s web site. 13

Prohibitions applicable to convicted felons. 14

Campaign Finance Law matters. 14

Miscellaneous changes. 16

Effective date. 16

SUMMARY OF CHANGES

Voter registration

Modifies the House-passed version by removing the requirement that the Secretary of State prescribe voter registration forms by administrative rule (R.C. 3503.14).

Adds to the House-passed version provisions requiring the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, in consultation with a committee consisting of the directors of certain boards of elections, to develop and review a system to make information from completed voter registration applications received by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles or a deputy registrar available to all boards of elections via electronic means (R.C. 3503.11).

Adds to the House-passed version provisions requiring the Secretary of State to permit boards of elections to produce voter registration forms that have subdivided spaces for each individual alphanumeric character of the voter's information so as to accommodate the electronic reading and conversion of the information to data and the subsequent electronic transfer of that data to the statewide voter registration database (R.C. 3503.14(A)).

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions by prohibiting persons who help applicants register to vote outside an official registration place from knowingly failing to return a registration form entrusted to them within ten days after it is completed or, unless the person receives the form within 24 hours before the 30th day before the election, on or before the 30th day before the election, whichever is earlier (R.C. 3599.11(B)(2)(a) and (C)(1)).

Adds to the House-passed version a provision requiring a board of elections to include in the registration notification mailed to a voter a notice, written in bold type, that the voter needs to bring to the polling place identification in the form of a current and valid photo identification, a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and current address of the voter, or the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number, but that the voter still will be able to vote if the voter does not have any of these forms of identification or the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number (R.C. 3503.19(C)(1)(c)).

Adds to the House-passed version a provision that, if a provisional ballot is not counted for a voter whose name is marked in the official registration list and in the pollbook due to the voter's registration notice having been returned as undeliverable, if the reason for the noncounting is that (1) the voter is not qualified or is not properly registered to vote, (2) the voter did not provide any additional required information within ten days after the day of the election, or (3) a hearing was conducted after the election that did not result in the voter's inclusion in the official registration list, and if the voter's registration is canceled as a result, the relevant board of elections must notify the voter by United States mail of the cancellation (R.C. 3503.19(C)(2)).

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions by requiring the Secretary of State to include in the informational brochure on voter registration information, written in bold type, that the voter needs to bring to the polling place identification in the form of a current and valid photo identification, a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and current address of the voter, or the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number, but that the voter still will be able to vote if the voter does not have any of these forms  of identification or the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number (R.C. 3503.28(A)(6)).

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions by providing that a person entering a polling place for the sole purpose of reviewing the precinct's official registration list cannot engage in conduct that would constitute "harassment in violation of the election law" (see below) (R.C. 3503.23(C)).

Mailed notification of general elections

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions by requiring a board of election to include in the mailed notification of a general election a reminder, written in bold type, that the voter needs to bring to the polling place identification in the form of a current and valid photo identification, a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and current address of the voter, or the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number, but that the voter still will be able to vote if the voter does not have any of these forms  of identification or the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number (R.C. 3501.19(A)(3)).

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions by requiring a board of elections to mail the notification of a general election to each registered elector 60 days (45 days in the House-passed version) before that election (R.C. 3501.19(A)).

Publication of notice of elections

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions (1) by providing that a board of elections must publish notice of specified elections in one or more newspapers of general circulation "twice" or "twice during the week prior to the election" and (2) generally requiring a board to post the notices of the specified elections for 30 days prior to an election on the board's web site or, if the board does not operate and maintain its own web site, on the web site it operates and maintains on free Internet space provided by the Secretary of State (see below)  (R.C. 131.23(G), 306.70, 307.791, 322.021, 324.021, 503.162(B), 504.02(B), 504.03(A)(2), 511.28, 511.34(B), 513.14, 745.07, 747.11, 3311.21(A), 3311.50(C), 3311.73(B), 3349.29, 3354.12(A), 3355.09, 4504.021, 5705.191, 5705.194, 5705.196, 5705.21(B), 5705.218(C), 5705.25(A), 5705.251(A), 5705.261, 5705.71(D), 5739.022(A), 5748.02(C), 5748.04, 5748.08(C), and 6119.18).

Boards of elections' web sites

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions by requiring the Secretary of State to provide free Internet space to boards of elections that do not operate and maintain their own web sites (R.C. 3501.05(Y) and 3501.24).

Voting at locations other than a board of elections or a precinct polling place

Adds to the House-passed version provisions providing that if a board of elections acquires, designates, or maintains any site other than the office of the board or a precinct polling place, including any temporary or permanent branch office, at which the board permits electors to vote, then the electors will not be permitted to vote at any other branch office or any other office of the board (R.C. 3501.10(C), 3506.16(B)(2)(a)(ii), (b), (c), and (d), (C), (D), and (G), and 3509.02(B)).

Use of an attorney in fact by disabled voters

Adds to the House-passed version provisions allowing a registered voter who, by reason of the voter's physical disability, is unable to sign the voter's name as a candidate, signer, or circulator, on a declaration of candidacy and petition, nominating petition, other petition, or other document under the Election Law to authorize an attorney in fact to sign on the voter's behalf, at the voter's direction and in the voter's presence, and makes other related changes implementing these provisions (R.C. 303.12(H), 519.12(H), 3375.03, 3501.38(D), (E)(1), (F), and (H), 3501.382, 3503.14(C), 3505.18(B), 3513.07, 3513.09, 3513.261,  3519.05, 3599.13(A)(3), and 3599.14(A)(6)).

Meaning of "photo identification"

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions by defining "photo identification" for all contexts in the Election Law in which it is used as a document that (1) shows the individual's name, which must conform to the name in the poll list or signature pollbook, (2) shows the individual's current address, which must conform to the address in the poll list or signature pollbook, (3) shows the individual's photograph, (4) includes an expiration date that has not passed, and (5) was issued by the United States government or the State of Ohio (R.C. 3501.01(AA)).

Voter identification

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions to do each of the following:

·        Require all voters to provide to election officials at the polling place on the day of an election proof of the voter's identity in the form of a current and valid photo identification (see above) or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the voter's name and current address (R.C. 3505.18(A)(1)).

·        Permit a voter who provides a form of photo identification that does not contain the voter's current residence address to cast a provisional ballot, provided that the voter must inform the election official at the polling place of, and the election official must transmit to the appropriate local election official, both the voter's former and current residence address for verification purposes (R.C. 3505.18(A)(6) and 3505.181(A)(14) and (B)(3)).

·        Permit a voter who is unable to provide to precinct election officials any of the above-mentioned forms of identification to provide the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number and then to vote a provisional ballot (R.C. 3505.18(A)(2) and 3505.181(A)(2)).

·        Permit a voter who is unable to provide to precinct election officials any of the above-mentioned forms of identification or to provide the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number to vote a provisional ballot (R.C. 3505.18(A)(3) and 3505.181(A)(3)).

·        Permit a voter who does not have any of the forms of identification mentioned above and who cannot provide the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number because the voter does not have a Social Security number to execute an affirmation under penalty of election falsification that the voter cannot provide the identification required or the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number for those reasons, and then vote a provisional ballot (R.C. 3505.18(A)(4) and 3505.181(A)(4)).

·        Permit a voter who does not have any of the forms of identification mentioned above, who cannot provide the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number because the voter does not have a Social Security number, and who declines to execute the affirmation mentioned above to vote a provisional ballot (R.C. 3505.18(A)(5) and 3505.181(A)(13)).

·        Require the Secretary of State to prescribe the form of the affirmation mentioned above, which must include spaces for (1) the voter's name, (2) the voter's address, (3) the current date, (4) the voter's date of birth, and (5) the voter's signature (R.C. 3505.18(A)(4)).

·        Require the Secretary of State to conduct voter education outlining voter identification requirements (R.C. 3501.05(Z)).

Paper precinct finder/precinct voting location guide

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions by requiring an election official to direct an individual who is in the wrong jurisdiction to the polling place of the jurisdiction in which the individual appears to be eligible to vote by using a "precinct voting location guide" (R.C. 3505.181(C)(1)).

Adds to the House-passed version a definition of a "precinct voting location guide" (R.C. 3505.181(E)(2)).

Provisional ballots

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions specifying the voters who may vote a provisional ballot and the process a board of elections must follow in determining whether a provisional ballot is eligible to be counted, consistent with the changes discussed above (R.C. 3505.181 and 3505.183).

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions specifying the security for and the record-keeping requirements for provisional ballots (R.C. 3505.183).

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions specifying the form of the affirmation that a provisional voter is required to execute (R.C. 3505.182).

Use of observers

Adds to the House-passed version provisions changing in the deadline by which a committee that advocates or opposes a measure and that wishes to appoint observers to the count at the election must file a petition with the board of elections of any county asking that they be recognized as the committee entitled to appoint observers--to not later than 4:00 p.m. of the 20th day prior to the election (R.C. 3505.21).

Absent voter's ballots and armed service absent voter's ballots--in general

Removes the House-passed version's provisions concerning absent voter's ballots and armed service absent voter's ballots that generally were enacted by Sub. H.B. 234 of the 126th General Assembly.[1]

Adds to the House-passed version provisions consistently specifying that, when a board of elections may or must designate two board employees to deliver an absent voter's ballot to certain applicants, the board must designate two employees belonging to the two major political parties (R.C. 3509.08(A) and (B)(1)).

Absent voter's ballots and armed service absent voter's ballots--return of applications

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions by prohibiting a person who has been entrusted with a completed absent voter's ballot application from knowingly failing to forward the application to the appropriate election official within ten days after it is completed or within such a time period that the failure to so forward the application disenfranchises the voter with respect to that election, whichever is earlier (R.C. 3599.21(A)(8)).

Election calendars

Removes from the House-passed version provisions reducing from ten to seven days of receipt the time at which a board of elections must return a petition to an official with an attestation of the number of relevant electors who signed it (R.C. 305.31, 731.28, and 731.29).

Nomination and election of municipal court candidates

Removes the House-passed version's provisions eliminating the specific nomination and filing requirements applicable to candidates for municipal court judge or for an elected municipal court clerk in certain municipal courts, but continues to require, as a general rule, that a declaration of candidacy and petition or a nominating petition of a candidate contain the signatures of 50 qualified electors of the territory of the court (R.C. 1901.07, 1901.10, and 1901.31).

Secretary of State election instructions and publications

Revises the House-passed version's provisions pertaining to conference calls with a board of elections to require the Secretary of State to ensure that all directives, advisories, other instructions, or decisions issued or made during or as a result of certain conference calls with a board of elections are posted on the Secretary of State's web site as soon as practicable after the completion of the conference call, but no later than the close of business on the same day as the conference call takes place (R.C. 3501.05(W)).

Prohibitions against the Secretary of State and the Attorney General serving in certain capacities

Adds to the House-passed version provisions prohibiting the Secretary of State from serving as a campaign treasurer or in any other official capacity for any campaign committee for any state or local office other than an office to which the Secretary of State is seeking election, any principal campaign committee or other authorized committee for any federal office other than an office to which the Secretary of State is seeking election, or any committee named in an initiative petition, any committee named in a referendum petition, any person making disbursements for the direct costs of producing or airing electioneering communications, or any other committee regulated under the Campaign Finance Law (R.C. 3501.052 and Section 4).

Adds to the House-passed version a provision prohibiting the Attorney General from serving as a campaign treasurer or in any other official capacity for any committee named in an initiative or referendum petition (R.C. 3501.052(D)).

Offenses concerning declarations of candidacy and petitions, declarations of intent to be a write-in candidate, nominating petitions, and other petitions

Adds to the House-passed version a provision increasing from a misdemeanor of the first degree to a felony of the fifth degree the penalty for persons knowingly engaging in certain offenses concerning any declaration of candidacy and petition, declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate, nominating petition, or other petition for the purpose of being a candidate for elective office, for the purpose of submitting a question or issue to the electors, or for the purpose of forming a political party (R.C. 3599.14(B)).

Failure to provide an address

Removes the House-passed version's provision providing that no voter registration application, change of residence form, or change of name form can be rejected on the basis that a person registering an applicant failed to provide the person's address (R.C. 3503.14(D)).

Political party designation form

Removes the House-passed version's provisions permitting an elector to designate or change the political party with which the elector desires to be affiliated (1) on the elector's voter registration form, (2) by completing and returning a political party designation form to a specified office, or (3) by voting a political party's ballot in a primary election (R.C. 3501.05(R), 3503.11, 3503.14, 3503.19(A), 3503.20, 3503.23, and 3513.19).

Rules for split shifts for judges of elections

Removes the House-passed version's provision requiring the Secretary of State to adopt rules permitting boards of elections to appoint judges of elections in a manner that allows those judges to serve split shifts on the day of the election (R.C. 3501.05(X)).

Voting machines, marking devices, and automatic tabulating equipment

Removes the House-passed version's provisions that, after each election, a county that uses direct recording electronic voting machines with a voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) as its primary voting system must conduct a complete recount of any one county office, question, or issue voted on at that election using the VVPAT produced by those machines (R.C. 3506.20).

Removes the House-passed version's provision that an arrow beside a candidate, question, or issue choice that has been circled by the voter on an optical scan ballot constitutes a valid vote under certain circumstances (R.C. 3506.21(B)(1)).

Adds to the House-passed version provisions prohibiting boards of elections from using a "ballots on demand voting system" unless each ballot printed by the system includes a tracking number, and defining such a system as one that utilizes ballots printed as needed by election officials at the board of elections for distribution to electors, either in person or by mail (R.C. 3506.20).

Removes the House-passed version's provision permitting the alternative use at each polling location of a "marking device" that is accessible for individuals with disabilities because it was previously enacted by Am. Sub. S.B. 147 of the 126th General Assembly.

Adds to the House-passed version a requirement that the Secretary of State, beginning in 2013 and every eight years thereafter, establish a minimum number of machines that a county must have if it selects direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines as its primary voting system, and establishes a formula that the Secretary of State must use in establishing this number (R.C. 3506.22(A) and (B)).  But, specifies that, if a county selects DRE voting machines as its primary voting system after the bill's effective date but before 2013, the county must purchase the minimum number of machines as established by the Secretary of State pursuant to the formula created by Section 514.03 of Am. Sub. H.B. 66 of the 126th General Assembly (R.C. 3506.22(C)).

Adds to the House-passed version provisions specifying that a verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) must be treated as are other ballots for purposes of the Public Records Law and requires it to be retained in accordance with the county records retention schedule after the relevant time period prescribed for its preservation under the Election Law (similar to paper ballots) or as ordered by the Secretary of State or a court of competent jurisdiction (R.C. 3506.18(C)).  And specifies that, if a VVPAT is made available to the public, any information on it that identifies the particular DRE voting machine that produced it must be redacted (R.C. 3506.18(D)).

Adds to the House-passed version a prohibition against any voting machine being connected to the Internet (R.C. 3506.23).

Duplicate candidacy prohibitions

Removes the House-passed version's proposed federal office/state or county office prohibition in this regard, which were recently enacted by Am. Sub. H.B. 66 of the 125th General Assembly, but reinserts them as "existing law" and proposes to reenact them (R.C. 3513.04, 3513.041, 3513.05, 3513.052, 3513.257, 3513.259, and 3513.261).

Private causes of action for certain Election Law violations/"harassment in violation of the Election Law"

Modifies the House-passed version's provisions in this regard to instead do the following:

·        Establish a private cause of action permitting an elector who has experienced defined "harassment in violation of the Election Law" to commence a civil action against individuals or other persons that engaged in the specified conduct in or about a place of registration or election or violated the specified provisions of the Election Law, and allow the plaintiff elector, whether the civil action is commenced by the elector alone or as a party to a class action, to seek a declaratory judgment, an injunction, or other appropriate equitable relief (R.C. 3501.90(A), (B), and (E)).

·        If the "harassment in violation of the Election Law" involved intentional or reckless threatening or causing of bodily harm to the voter while attempting to register to vote, to obtain an absent voter's ballot, or to vote, permit the plaintiff elector in a civil action based on that private cause of action to also seek relief in the form of monetary damages--three times the elector's actual damages or $1,000, whichever amount is greater--and an award of reasonable attorney's fees and court costs (R.C. 3501.90(C)(1) and (2)).

·        Authorize a plaintiff elector in a civil action based on that private cause of action to seek a court order granting one or more special forms of relief against organizations that have previously been determined in an Ohio court to have engaged in "harassment in violation of the Election Law" (R.C. 3501.90(C)(1) and (3)).

Attorney General's authority to commence criminal actions for election fraud

Adds to the House-passed version provisions allowing the Attorney General to prosecute criminal actions for election fraud that results from a violation of any provision of the Election Law, other than the Campaign Finance Reporting Law and the Campaign Finance Law, involving voting, an initiative or referendum petition process, or the conducting of an election if the Attorney General first presents evidence of the violations to the prosecuting attorney of any county in which the violations may be prosecuted and the prosecuting attorney then fails to do so within a reasonable time or requests the Attorney General to prosecute the violations (R.C. 109.95).

Initiative and referendum petitions

Ohio ballot board approval of initiative petitions--petitions must contain only one proposal

Adds to the House-passed version provisions that do each of the following:

· Provide that an initiative petition must contain only one proposal of law or constitutional amendment so as to enable the voters to vote on that proposal separately (R.C. 3519.01(A)).

·  Require the Attorney General to forward each submitted initiative petition to the Ohio Ballot Board. Within ten days after receipt of the petition, the Board must examine it and determine whether it contains only one proposed law or constitutional amendment.  (R.C. 3505.062(A) and 3519.01(A).)

·  Require the Ohio Ballot Board, if it determines that the initiative petition contains only one proposed law or constitutional amendment, to certify its approval to the Attorney General.  But, if the Board determines that the initiative petition contains more than one proposed law or constitutional amendment, it must divide the petition into individual petitions containing only one proposed law or constitutional amendment so as to enable the voters to vote on each proposal separately, and certify its approval to the Attorney General (R.C. 3505.062(A).)

Attorney General certification of an initiative petition summary

Adds to the House-passed version a requirement that the Attorney General, within ten days after receipt of an Ohio Ballot Board determination approving an initiative petition conduct an examination of the summary of the proposed law or constitutional amendment to determine whether it is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed law or constitutional amendment and, if it is, so certify (R.C. 3519.01(A)).

Challenges to certification decisions re: an initiative or referendum petition summary

Adds to the House-passed version a provision allowing any person who is aggrieved by the Attorney General’s decision to certify or not certify an initiative or referendum petition summary to challenge the decision in the Ohio Supreme Court (R.C. 3519.01(C)).

Estimate of annual expenditure of public funds proposed, and estimate of annual yield of proposed taxes

Adds to the House-passed version a provision revising the point in time at which the Secretary of State must request the Office of Budget and Management's "estimate of annual expenditure of public funds proposed" or the Tax Commissioner's "estimate of the annual yield of proposed taxes" for any initiative-proposed state law or constitutional amendment calling for the levying of a tax or involving a matter necessitating the expenditure of public funds:  instead of upon the receipt from the Attorney General of a verified copy of the proposed state law or constitutional amendment as under current law, changes it to within two days after the receipt from the Attorney General of the verified copy (R.C. 3519.04).

Adds to the House-passed version a provision requiring the Secretary of State, upon receipt of an estimate of any annual expenditure of public funds proposed, an estimate of the annual yield of any proposed taxes, or a joint estimate to post it on the Secretary of State’s web site for 30 days before the election at which the proposed state law or constitutional amendment will be voted upon (R.C. 3519.04).

Form of petition

Adds to the House-passed version a requirement that an initiative petition proposing a state law or constitutional amendment include the text of any existing statute or constitutional provision that would be amended or repealed if the proposed law or constitutional amendment is adopted (R.C. 3519.01(A)).

Petition circulator and signer residency requirements

Expands the House-passed version's provisions by prohibiting a person from circulating any initiative, referendum, declaration of candidacy, nomination, or recall petition unless the person is a resident of Ohio; prohibiting a person from signing any initiative, referendum, declaration of candidacy, nomination, or recall petition unless the person is a registered elector who will have resided in the county and precinct where the person is registered for at least 30 days at the time of the next election; and establishing standards to govern election officials in determining the residency of a person for the petition circulator provisions (R.C. 3503.06(B)).

Signature requirements

Adds to the House-passed version a requirement that persons seeking to propose a state law or constitutional amendment by an initiative petition or to refer to the voters any law, section, or item of law by a referendum petition, obtain the signatures of 1,000 qualified electors (in contrast to current law's 100 qualified electors) before submitting the proposed law or constitutional amendment, or the measure to be referred, together with its summary, to the Attorney General or both the Secretary of State and the Attorney General (R.C. 3519.01(A) and (B)(1)).

Adds to the House-passed version provisions requiring a voter's signature on an initiative or referendum petition to be an original in ink (R.C. 3519.051).

Deadlines for submission of arguments or explanations

Adds to the House-passed version a requirement that the arguments in support of or in opposition to a resolution of the General Assembly proposing a constitutional amendment that are prepared by a group of members of the General Assembly or that are prepared by the Ohio Ballot Board itself or persons appointed by the Board under certain circumstances, to be filed with the Secretary of State not later than 80 days (as contrasted with 75 days under current law) before the election at which the measure is to be voted upon (R.C. 3505.063(A)).

Adds to the House-passed version a requirement that arguments in support of or in opposition to a resolution of the General Assembly proposing a constitutional amendment prepared by the Ohio Ballot Board or a group designated by the Board due to the failure of a group of members of the General Assembly or other group of designated persons to prepare and file arguments in support of or in opposition to the proposed amendment by the 80th day before the election as described above, to be filed with the Secretary of State not later than 75 days (as contrasted with 70 days under current law) before the election at which the measure is to be voted upon (R.C. 3505.063(B)(1)).

Adds to the House-passed version a requirement that arguments or explanations in support of or in opposition to an initiative or referendum petition that are prepared by the committee named in the petition or persons named by the General Assembly or the Governor, be filed with the Secretary of State not later than 80 days (as contrasted with 75 days under current law) before the election at which the measure is to be voted upon (R.C. 3519.03(A)).

Adds to the House-passed version a requirement that arguments or explanations in support of or in opposition to an initiative or referendum petition prepared by the Ohio Ballot Board or a group designated by the Board due to the failure of the committee named in the petition or persons named by the General Assembly or the Governor to prepare and file relevant arguments or explanations by the 80th day before the election as described above, be filed with the Secretary of State not later than 75 days (as contrasted with 70 days under current law) before the election at which the measure is to be voted upon (R.C. 3519.03(B)(1)).

Posting of information on the Secretary of State’s web site

Adds to the House-passed version a requirement that the Secretary of State post on the office's web site (1) the full text of each state law or constitutional amendment proposed by initiative petition that has been approved for the ballot, (2) the certified summary of the proposed state law or constitutional amendment, (3) the ballot language of the proposed state law or constitutional amendment, and (4) the arguments or explanations in favor of or against the proposed state law or constitutional amendment (R.C. 3519.07(A)).

Adds to the House-passed version a requirement that, when the Secretary of State publishes or posts on the office's web site arguments or explanations in favor of or against any state law or constitutional amendment proposed by an initiative petition that has been approved for the ballot, the Secretary of State include the names of the persons who prepared the argument or explanation (R.C. 3519.07(B)).

Prohibitions applicable to convicted felons

Adds to the House-passed version provisions that a person convicted of a felony under Ohio law or the law of any other state or the United States is incompetent to circulate or serve as a witness for the signing of any declaration of candidacy and petition, voter registration application, or nominating, initiative, referendum, or recall petition (R.C. 2961.01(B) and 2967.17(B)).

Campaign Finance Law matters

Adds to the House-passed version a provision exempting from the definition of a "political action committee" for the purposes of the Campaign Finance Law a political club (1) that is formed primarily for social purposes, (2) consists of 100 members or less, (3) has officers and periodic meetings, (4) has less than $2,500 in its treasury at all times, and (5) makes an aggregate total contribution of $1,000 per calendar year (R.C. 3517.01(B)(8)(b)).

Adds to the House-passed version provisions allowing two or more candidates to be the beneficiaries of a single campaign committee if certain conditions are met, and governing the operation of and impact of continuing law upon these multi-beneficiary campaign committees (R.C. 3517.081(B) and 3517.10(D)(1)).

Revises the provisions in the House-passed version pertaining to "mid-year campaign finance statement flings" to specify that the only campaign committees generally required to file those statements are (1) the campaign committee of a candidate for statewide or county office and (2) the campaign committee of a candidate for any other nonjudicial office if that campaign committee receives, during that period, contributions exceeding $10,000 (R.C. 3517.10(A) and (F)(3)).

 Adds to the House-passed version provisions that a campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity is not required to file a mid-year campaign finance statement for any year in which it is required to file a post primary election statement, but may file a mid-year campaign finance statement at its option (R.C. 3517.10(A)).

Adds to the House-passed version a provision that a campaign committee of a candidate for the office of Chief Justice or Justice of the Supreme Court and a campaign committee of a candidate for the office of judge of any court in this state is not required to file a mid-year campaign finance statement (R.C. 3517.10(A)).

Adds to the House-passed version provisions that require the circulator or committee in charge of an initiative or referendum petition to appoint a treasurer and file a designation of that appointment with the Secretary of State before receiving a contribution or making an expenditure; require the circulator or committee to include, on the campaign finance statement required to be filed within 30 days after the petition is filed, specified information regarding contributions received in relation to that petition; require the treasurer so appointed to file campaign finance statements at the times and in the manner required under existing law for other political entities, regarding contributions made or received and expenditures made by the treasurer, circulator, or committee in charge of the petition; and prohibit any person from failing to file any of those campaign finance statements (R.C. 3517.12, 3517.13(U), and 3517.992(Q)).

Adds to the House-passed version prohibitions against county, municipal, and township elected officers, candidates for county elective offices, municipal elective offices, or township elective offices, campaign committees of those officers and candidates, and others from knowingly soliciting or accepting contributions from, respectively, a county, municipal, or township employee--other than generally an appointed member of a board, commission, or other public body--of more than $200 in each election cycle, with associated penalties for violations of the prohibitions (R.C. 3517.092(A)(4), (5), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), and (14), (C), (D), and (E) and 3517.092(M)).

Adds to the House-passed version a provision that, if the recipient of a contribution made by a partner of a partnership or an owner or a member of another unincorporated business from funds of that partnership or business is a political action committee (PAC) affiliated with that partnership or business, the PAC must report the contribution by listing the name and principal business address of the partnership or business and either of the following (R.C. 3517.10(I)(2)):

·        The name of each partner, owner, or member as of the date of the date of the contribution, and the ownership interest of each partner, owner, or member in the partnership or business;

·        The name of each partner, owner, or member as of the date of the contribution, and a statement that no partner's, owner's, or member's share of the contribution exceeds a specified dollar amount.  The dollar amount must be attributed to each and every partner, owner, or member.

Miscellaneous changes

Adds to the House-passed version a requirement that the Ohio Elections Commission establish a web site on which it must post, at a minimum, all of the Commission's decisions and advisory opinions and copies of each election law as it is amended by the General Assembly.  The Commission must update the web site regularly to reflect any new decisions and advisory opinions or changes to posted decisions and advisory opinions.  (R.C. 3517.153(E).)

Effective date

Removes from the House-passed version the provision specifying that the bill's operative provisions take effect on January 1, 2006 (Section 4).

 

 

H0003-126.doc/ss                                                                                                        12/14/05



[1]  The following sections in the House-passed version are no longer in the bill:  R.C. 3509.03, 3509.031, 3509.04, 3509.05, 3509.07, 3511.02, 3511.04, 3511.09,  and 3599.12.