Garrison proposes bill governing petition drives
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Columbus Dispatch: State Rep. Jennifer Garrison is calling for new legislation that would crack down on fraud in the process of circulating petitions to place issues on Ohio's statewide ballot.
Garrison, D-Marietta and a candidate for secretary of state next year, unveiled the "Ballot Integrity Act" at a Statehouse press conference today. It would, among other things, require companies that pay petition circulators to get a license from the secretary of state.
Garrison said the idea is not to limit ballot initiatives but rather to address problems that have surfaced in recent elections, including fraudulent petition signatures and names being submitted or misrepresentations being made about a proposed issue during the process.
"There haven’t been adequate rules on this issue, and it's time for us to take a look at that as a General Assembly," she said.
According to Garrison, the proposed legislation would:
- Require companies that pay petition circulators to get a license from the secretary of state.
- Allow the secretary of state to deny a license to an entity that violated petitions laws in Ohio or any other state.
- Allow the secretary of state to revoke the license of an entity that is not in compliance with Ohio laws.
- Require all petition circulators to register with the secretary of state.
- Allow the secretary of state to invalidate signatures if there was fraud in the circulating of petitions. Currently, only county boards of elections can do that.
- Require the secretary of state to develop cost-effective training programs for circulators to teach them about laws that apply to them.
Garrison said she has worked with the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center in Washington, D.C., which gave Ohio a "D" in a study of each state's current laws governing ballot initiatives.
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