2 Phases to Get an Amendment on the Ballot in Ohio
Petition Process
An amendment to the Ohio Constitution on September 3, 1912, gives Ohioans the right to submit initiative petitions directly to the voters to:
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- Initiate amendments
- Initiate new laws
- Repeal current laws
Ohioans have amended our constitution 173 times. The Legislature has proposed the majority of these amendments. However, at times the citizens want something different from what the legislature wants or is able to pass.
Submitting an Initiative Petition directly to the electors is an avenue for Ohioan to make changes when the legislature is unwilling or incapable. It is a lot of work to get a citizen lead initiative on the ballot so Ohioans can vote for or against it. We call this a 2 phase process.
Phase 1
This Phase is the process includes
- Writing the amendment
- Gathering 1000 signatures
- Submitting it to the Attorney General to confirm the Summary accurately explains the amendment and is succinct. Who then sends it to the Secretary of State.
- Secretary of State confirms the 1000 signatures are valid and meets with the Ballot Board to confirm it contains ONLY ONE ISSUE and no more.
On May 9, 2025 Phase 1 was completed!!
Short video regarding filling out petitions. If you have any other questions please email [email protected] or call Leonard Gilbert at (440)-488-8297
Have questions about the above Initiative Petition? Click here to Visit our FAQ page for answers.
Phase 2
Now that Phase 1 is complete, it is time for Ohioans to sign petitions. We have all been asked to sign a petition over the last few years. Some have failed, some have passed, and unfortunately, some never made it to the ballot.
The committee must:
- Gather signatures exceeding 10% of the last gubernatorial election
- approximately 418,000 certified signatures of registered voters, for this reason we will collect as close to 700,000 as we can.
- These signatures must be at least 5% of the gubernatorial voters
- from at least 44 of the 88 counties. Check your county page for details of how many are needed.
This is why large political groups from outside Ohio get behind Constitutional Amendments, because they can pay people to collect signatures. We are not affiliated with any large political group but we are hearing the cries of average Ohioans because of the ever-increasing Property Taxes.
If you have questions not answered here or would like to help, reach out to us at [email protected]
