FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 21, 2011

SECRETARY OF STATE HUSTED CERTIFIES SIGNATURES FOR REFERENDUM ON SENATE BILL 5
Petitioners have met Constitutional requirements to place issue on November ballot

COLUMBUS – Secretary of State Jon Husted today certified that petitioners seeking a referendum on Senate Bill 5 have collected 915,456 valid signatures, meeting the necessary requirements to place the issue on the 2011 November ballot. Petitioners needed 231,147 signatures or six percent of the total vote cast for Governor in 2010.

As part of the total number of signatures needed to place the measure on the ballot, petitioners also needed to collect signatures from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, and within each of those counties, to collect enough signatures equal to three percent of the total vote cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election, 2010. Senate Bill 5 petitioners met this requirement in all 88 counties.

Having met the requirements to place the issue on the ballot, the next step in the process is for the Ballot Board to convene to approve the ballot language that voters will consider in November. The Ballot Board is expected to meet in early August.

Additional Information

Senate Bill 5 Referendum Certification Letter
www.sos.state.oh.us/upload/news/20110721.pdf

Senate Bill 5 Referendum Certification Work Log (Includes County-by-County Breakdown)
www.sos.state.oh.us/upload/news/20110721a.pdf (PDF Format)
www.ohiosecretaryofstate.gov/upload/news/20110721.xls (Excel Format)

Procedure for a Statewide Referendum
www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections/issues/StateReferendum.aspx

2010 Governor's Race Percentage Chart (Includes County-by-County Breakdown)
www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections/electResultsMain/2010results/20101102percentage.aspx.

Information on Ohio Ballot Board
www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/elections/IssueProcBallotBd/BallotBoard.aspx

-30-

For more information, please contact Matt McClellan at 614-995-2168 or mmcclellan@ohiosecretaryofstate.gov.