Pubdate: Fri, 31 Jul 2015
Source: Dayton Daily News (OH)
Copyright: 2015 Dayton Daily News
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/7JXk4H3l
Website: http://www.daytondailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/120
Author: Laura A. Bischoff

PRO-POT GROUP SUBMITS MORE THAN 95K SIGNATURES

ResponsibleOhio Needs 29,509 Valid Signatures to Get Issue on Ballot.

COLUMBUS - The campaign to legalize marijuana in Ohio turned in more 
than 95,500 supplemental petition signatures on Thursday in a last 
push to make the statewide ballot in November.

ResponsibleOhio needs 305,591 valid signatures from registered Ohio 
voters. Election officials ruled that the campaign had 276,082 valid 
signatures in the first batch, leaving it 29,509 short.

ResponsibleOhio hopes to make up the shortfall with the 95,572 
signatures submitted Thursday.

Josh Eck, spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, said 
county boards of elections will be asked to validate signatures and 
return the petitions to the state the week of Aug. 10. State 
officials must finalize the November ballot by Aug. 25.

"The enthusiastic and overwhelming response we've received from 
hundreds of thousands of voters across the state has shown us one 
thing - it's time for marijuana legalization in Ohio," said 
ResponsibleOhio Executive Director Ian James in a written statement.

ResponsibleOhio said it will mount a legal challenge to signatures it 
says were not counted or were improperly invalidated during the 
initial petition filing. Meanwhile, Husted appointed a special 
investigator to review petitions submitted by ResponsibleOhio because 
Husted said there was a discrepancy between the hard-copy petitions 
and electronic copies that were submitted.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom