Referendum Challenge to Benefits Reduction Act
[NOTE: This page discusses the 1997 workers’ compensation referendum. See our 2006 referendum information page for information on that referendum attempt.]
On Monday, July 21, 1997 referendum petitions containing 414,934 signatures were filed with the Ohio Secretary of State, to challenge the Benefits Reduction Act.
This referendum challenge will be State Issue 2. A no vote will reject the changes made by S.B. 45, the Ohio Workers’ Compensation Benefits Reduction Act. What happens next?
Signatures on the individual petitions [called “part-petitions”] will be verified. If sufficient valid signatures have been filed, the law will be submitted to a vote in November.
For more specific information about this process, select one of the following links:
- What happens once the petition is filed?
- What are the requirements for the signatures to be valid?
- How many signatures are necessary for the referendum challenge to be effective?
- If there are enough valid signatures filed, what happens?
What happens once the petition is filed?
The petition was filed with the Ohio Secretary of State. The Secretary of State will separate the part-petitions by county. The Secretary of State will then send the part-petitions from each county to that County’s Board of Elections.
The County Board of Elections will review each part-petition. The Board of Elections will determine whether the part-petitions are properly verified, and will also check the signatures, to ensure that the signatures are of registered voters in that county. The County Boards of Election will eliminate duplicate, illegal, and improper signatures.
The County Boards of Election will then report to the Ohio Secretary of State on the number of valid and invalid signatures.
[see R.C. 3519.15]
What are the requirements for the signatures to be valid?
Valid signatures must be [1] from a registered voter and [2] have the proper information filled out.
Valid petitions must have been properly filled out and signed by the circulator.
[see Oh. Const. Art. II, Section 1(g); R.C. 3519.06; R.C. 3519.10]
How many signatures are necessary for the referendum challenge to be effective?
The referendum challenge must satisfy a state-wide signature requirement and a per-county signature requirement to be effective.
The state-wide signature requirement is six percent of the electorate that voted for the office of governor in the last election. This is 200,775 signatures. 414,934 signatures were filed.
The per-county signature requirement is three percent from 44 counties. The signatures filed exceeded 3 percent of the electors in 85 counties, and exceeded 6 percent of the electors in 66 counties.
[see Oh. Const. Art. II, Section 1(c); Oh. Const. Art. II, Section 1(g)]
If there are enough valid signatures filed, what happens?
If the Ohio Secretary of State finds that enough valid signatures have been filed, the matter will be placed on the November ballot. The people of the state will vote on whether the law will go into effect. The law will not go into effect until and unless a majority of voters approve it during the November election.
As part of the election process, arguments for and against the law will be prepared. These arguments cannot exceed 300 words.
Arguments against the law will be prepared by the Committee which sponsored the petition. Arguments for the law will be made by a committee named by the General Assembly, if it is in session. If the General Assembly is not in session, then the committee will be named by the Governor.
The law and the arguments for and against the law will be published once a week for the three weeks preceeding the election, in at least one newspaper of general circulation in each county where a newspaper is published.
[see Oh. Const. Art. II, Section 1(c); Oh. Const. Art. II, Section 1(g)]