COLUMBUS – State Rep. Jennifer Garrison unveiled legislation today that calls for sweeping changes to Ohio’s ballot initiative process known as the Ballot Integrity Act.

Garrison told a Columbus news conference. “I am here to improve our initiative process for the future and protect Ohio’s Constitution. Over the past several years, Ohio has seen a sharp increase in ballot initiatives and if this continues, we’ll become the California of the Midwest.”

Garrison stated at the onset of the press conference that she was not there to pass judgment on any issue previously placed before the Ohio voters.

Along with an increase in ballot initiatives, Ohio has seen an increase in the number of people who don’t follow the rules, she said.

This past year, in Montgomery County, the signatures of 23 dead people showed up on petitions. The previous year, petition circulators working for the payday lenders insisted their goal was to lower interest rates on payday loans – when the goal really was to raise them. And the year before that, efforts to do a referendum on the strip club law showed widespread misconduct among petition circulators.

Garrison stated, “Part of the problem is people who don’t follow the rules – and part of the problem is the rules themselves. Ohio laws governing ballot initiatives unfairly place the burden on low-level petition circulators – rather than the companies that hire them, don’t properly train them, or train them to do anything or say anything, to get the necessary signatures.’’

Ohio must beef up its laws to protect direct democracy, she said. “If it does not, our system will continue to be hijacked by well-financed special interests that subvert the process through illegal or misleading activity.”

This Ballot Integrity Act would do the following:
Require petition firms to get a license from the Secretary of State.
Allow the Secretary of State to deny a license to a petition entity that violated petitions laws in Ohio or any other state.
Allow the Secretary of State to revoke the license of a petition 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 submitted signatures if fraud exists while circulating petitions.
Require the Secretary of State to develop cost-effective training programs for circulators to inform them of laws that apply to them.

The nationally acclaimed Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) has given Ohio a score of 68 out of 100 – a D – for its current laws governing ballot initiatives.

Joel Foster, Director of BISC’s Ballot Integrity Project in Washington D.C., said if Garrison’s legislation is adopted, Ohio’s grade would rise to an A.

“Only by implementing solutions to the problems that exist will states be able to provide people with a ballot measure process that works for voters instead of against them,’’ Foster said. “The proposed reforms will strengthen the state’s protection against initiative fraud and will help ensure the integrity of the ballot for the people of Ohio. If passed, this legislation would establish Ohio as a national leader and provide the rest of the country with a model for common-sense reform.”