FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, December 9, 2011

SECRETARY OF STATE HUSTED CERTIFIES HB 194 REFERENDUM PETITION SIGNATURES
Petitioners have met requirements to place issue on November 2012 ballot.

COLUMBUS – Secretary of State Jon Husted today certified that petitioners seeking a referendum on House Bill 194 have collected 307,358 valid signatures, meeting the requirements to place the issue on the 2012 November ballot. Petitioners needed 231,150 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 must also have collected signatures from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, and within each of those counties collected enough signatures equal to three percent of the total vote cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election, 2010. Petitioners seeking a referendum on HB 194 met or exceeded the three percent threshold in 64counties.

Having met the requirements to place the issue on the ballot, the next step in the process is for the Ohio Ballot Board to meet to prepare and approve language for the ballot, which must be done no later than 75 days prior to the election.

Additional Information

Secretary of State Certification Letter

Signature Verification Work Log for HB 194 Referendum

2010 Governor's Race Percentage Chart (Includes County-by-County Breakdown)

Procedure for a Statewide Referendum

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