Ohio Election Audit Initiative (2020)

Ohio Election Audit Initiative
Election date November 3, 2020
Topic Elections and campaigns
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin Citizens

The Ohio Election Audit Initiative was not on the ballot in Ohio as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.^[1]

The initiative would have amended Article V, Section I of the Ohio Constitution to require a sample of elections to be audited^[2]

On March 2, 2020, the Ohio Ballot Board voted that the Ohio Voting Requirements Initiative, which was filed in January 2020, violated Ohio's single-subject rule and must be divided into four separate initiatives. Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections, who are leading the campaign in support of the amendment, filed four initiatives, including this amendment, that address the four subjects identified in the Board's decision. The three other amendments filed were the Voter Registration Initiative, the Disabled Voters Initiative, and the Absentee and Early Voting Requirements Initiative.^[3]

A similar measure, Michigan Proposal 3, Voting Policies in State Constitution Initiative, was approved in 2018. The initiated constitutional amendment added eight voting policies to the Michigan Constitution, including straight-ticket voting, automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, and no-excuse absentee voting.

Text of measure[edit]

Ballot title[edit]

The title for this measure submitted by petitioners was as follows:^[2]

Ballot summary[edit]

The summary for this measure submitted by petitioners was as follows:^[2]

Full text[edit]

The full text of the measure is available here.

Support[edit]

Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections led the campaign in support of the initiative.^[2]

Supporters[edit]

• Ohio Conference of NAACP^[5]
• American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio^[6]

Opposition[edit]

If you are aware of any opponents or opposing arguments, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Path to the ballot[edit]

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Ohio

In Ohio, the number of signatures required to get an initiated constitutional amendment placed on the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. Ohio also requires initiative sponsors to submit 1,000 signatures with the initial petition application. Ohio has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures be gathered from at least 44 of Ohio's 88 counties. Petitioners must gather signatures equal to a minimum of half the total required percentage of the gubernatorial vote in each of the 44 counties. Petitions are allowed to circulate for an indefinite period of time. Signatures are due 125 days prior to the general election that proponents want the initiative on.

The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2020 ballot:

• Signatures: 443,958 valid signatures were required.
• Deadline: The deadline to submit the signatures was July 1, 2020.

County boards of elections are responsible for verifying signatures, and the secretary of state must determine the sufficiency of the signature petition at least 105 days before the election. If the first batch of signatures is determined to be insufficient, the petitioners are given a ten-day window to collect more signatures.

Stages of this initiative[edit]

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• Petitioners filed the initiative with the Ohio Attorney General on March 5, 2020.^[2]
• On March 6, 2020, Ohio Attorney General David Yost (R) verified that the summary submitted by petitioners was "fair and truthful" according to state requirements.^[7]
• On June 18, 2020, the campaign announced that it was suspending its efforts to put the initiative on the November ballot. Toni Webb, campaign manager for Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections, said, "We end this campaign incredibly proud of everything we have accomplished, including a 6-1 victory at the Ohio Supreme Court finding our initiative qualified as a single issue, and making clear the standard for future ballot measures in Ohio. ... The bottom line is that the COVID-19 pandemic hit right at the beginning of Ohio’s precious signature gathering months, making it impossible to gather the signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot."^[8]

See also[edit]

2020 measures 2020 ballot measures Elections and campaigns on the ballot 2020 legislative sessions

Ohio Ohio ballot measures Ohio ballot measure laws

News and analysis Ballot measure lawsuits Ballot measure readability Ballot measure polls

External links[edit]

• Initiative petition full text

Footnotes[edit]

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