FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 21, 2011

SECRETARY OF STATE HUSTED CERTIFIES INITIAL REFERENDUM PETITION SIGNATURES FOR HB 319

COLUMBUS – Secretary of State Jon Husted today certified that “Ohioans for Fair Districts,” the group seeking a referendum on House Bill 319, has met the initial 1,000-signature requirement needed to begin circulating petitions for the November 2012 ballot.

Ohio law requires petitioners seeking to place a referendum on the ballot to first submit 1,000 valid signatures and the full text of the law, or section of the law, to the Secretary of State’s office for certification. Petitioners collected 2,451 signatures, of which 1,444 were deemed valid. The Secretary also approved the full text of the law submitted with the signatures.

Once the signatures and text have been certified by the Secretary of State, and the petition summary has been certified by the Attorney General, petitioners may begin collecting the required 231,150 valid signatures to place the measure on the ballot. In this case, petitioners would have until December 25, 2011, to collect the required signatures.

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