Upgrade Ohio’s laws for petitions
Related News
- 01/22/10 — Property group calls off initiative
- 01/22/10 — Deadline For Colo. “Personhood” Amendment Moved Up
- 01/20/10 — Legislator targets public employees for pay cuts in constitutional amendment
- 01/19/10 — Bill in Mich. Senate could revise stem cell research
- 01/18/10 — Earnings tax in St. Louis, Kansas City could be challenged in statewide ballot initiative
Akron Beacon Journal: For the past two decades, groups upset with the laws the state legislature and governors have passed or not enacted have taken it to the streets, collected signatures and then gone directly to voters with referendums and constitutional amendments.
It is the essence of a democracy to be able to bypass indifferent elected officials, but Ohio and the 23 other states that allow initiative petitions have also witnessed a wave of abuse and fraud as the stakes have risen at the polls.
Each election cycle it seems to get worse…
In a perfect marriage of ambition and good government, state Rep. Jennifer Garrison, D-Marietta, introduced legislation last week to address some of the holes in Ohio's initiative petition laws.
Garrison is running as the Democratic candidate for secretary of state in 2010.
Her ideas could not come at a better time.
She bases the proposed legislation on problems outlined by the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which was formed in 2004 to begin looking into the growing problems associated with efforts to go directly to the voters.
Ohio earned a ''D'' with a grade of 68 percent on the center's report card based on standards, transparency, accountability, oversight and enforcement.
Although Ohio does poorly for grading purposes, the state is tied with six others that rank third best among 24 states that permit initiative petitions.
So where does Ohio fall down?
Petition circulators are not required to register with the state, and circulators with felony or forgery records can still work in Ohio.
In the oversight and enforcement section, Ohio fails three of six benchmarks.
To read more, click here.
Comments
Very good website. Nice writing comments system. Sorry for the off-topic write-up, yet I had been extremely astounded with Djokovic’s play in the final of the Australian OPen this yr. The guy is probably unbeatable. He exhibited he had been as powerful as steel. Just think about he he could overcome Nadal who had been so encouraged to gain and was really so pumped up while in the 5th set. I am beginning to think that Djokovic has been doing some faith based work to bring some forces on his side to help him win such matches up against the greatest players in the world
quality essays to buy. What is your opinion with regards to Rafa’s game?
