(A) The board of elections shall provide to a petitioner circulating a petition for an election for the submission of one or more of the questions specified in section4301.35or4301.351of the Revised Code, at the time of taking out the petition, both of the following:
(1) The names of the streets and, if appropriate, the address numbers of residences and business establishments within the precinct in which the election is sought;
(2) A form prescribed by the secretary of state for notifying affected permit holders and liquor agency stores of the circulation of a petition for an election for the submission of one or more of the questions specified in section4301.35or4301.351of the Revised Code.
The petitioner shall, not less than fifty-five days before the petition-filing deadline for the election, as provided in this section, file with the division of liquor control the information regarding names of streets and, if appropriate, address numbers of residences and business establishments provided by the board of elections, and specify to the division the precinct that is concerned and that would be affected by the results of the election and the filing deadline. The division shall, within a reasonable period of time and not later than twenty-five days before the filing deadline, supply the petitioner with a list of the names and addresses of permit holders and liquor agency stores, if any, that would be affected by the election. The list shall contain a heading with the following words: "Liquor permit holders and liquor agency stores that would be affected by the question(s) set forth on petition for a local option election."
Within five days after a petitioner has received from the division the list of liquor permit holders and liquor agency stores, if any, that would be affected by the question or questions set forth on a petition for local option election, the petitioner shall, using the form provided by the board of elections, notify by certified mail each permit holder and liquor agency store whose name appears on that list. The form for notifying affected permit holders and liquor agency stores shall require the petitioner to state the petitioner's name and street address and shall contain a statement that a petition is being circulated for an election for the submission of the question or questions specified in section4301.35or4301.351of the Revised Code. The form shall require the petitioner to state the question or questions to be submitted as they appear on the petition.
The petitioner shall attach a copy of the list provided by the division to each petition paper. A part petition paper circulated at any time without the list of affected permit holders and liquor agency stores attached to it is invalid.
At the time the petitioner files the petition with the board of elections, the petitioner shall provide to the board the list supplied by the division and an affidavit certifying that the petitioner notified all affected permit holders and liquor agency stores, if any, on the list in the manner and within the time required in this section and that, at the time each signer of the petition affixed the signer's signature to the petition, the petition paper contained a copy of the list of affected permit holders and liquor agency stores.
Within five days after receiving a petition, the board shall give notice by certified mail that it has received the petition to all liquor permit holders and liquor agency stores, if any, whose names appear on the list of affected permit holders and liquor agency stores filed by the petitioner. Failure of the petitioner to supply the affidavit required by this section and a complete and accurate list of liquor permit holders and liquor agency stores, if any, invalidates the entire petition. The board of elections shall provide to a permit holder or liquor agency store that would be affected by a proposed local option election, on the permit holder's or liquor agency store's request, the names of the streets, and, if appropriate, the address numbers of residences and business establishments within the precinct in which the election is sought that would be affected by the results of the election. The board may charge a reasonable fee for this information when provided to the petitioner and the permit holder or liquor agency store.
(B) The petitioner shall present the petition to the board of elections of the county where the precinct is located not later than four p.m. of the ninetieth day before the day of a general election or a special election held on a day on which a primary election may be held. The petitioner shall ensure that the petition designates whether it is a petition for an election for the submission of one or more of the questions specified in section4301.35of the Revised Code, or a petition for the submission of one or more of the questions specified in section4301.351of the Revised Code. The petitioner also shall ensure that the petition designates the particular question or questions specified in section4301.35or4301.351of the Revised Code that are to be submitted. The petition shall be signed by the number of qualified electors of the precinct concerned as specified in division (C) of this section.
The board shall submit the question or questions specified in the petition to the electors of the precinct concerned, on the day of the next general election or the next special election held on a day on which a primary election may be held, whichever occurs first and shall proceed as follows:
(1) Such board shall, not later than the seventy-eighth day before the day of the election for which the question or questions on the petition would qualify for submission to the electors of the precinct, examine and determine the sufficiency of the signatures and review, examine, and determine the validity of the petition and, in case of overlapping precinct petitions presented within that period, determine which of the petitions shall govern the further proceedings of the board. In the case where the board determines that two or more overlapping petitions are valid, the earlier filed petition shall govern. The board shall certify the sufficiency and validity of any petition determined to be valid. The board shall determine the validity of the petition as of the time of certification as described in this division.
(2) If a petition is sufficient, and, in case of overlapping precinct petitions, after the board has determined the governing petition, the board to which the petition has been presented shall order the holding of a special election in the precinct for the submission of whichever of the questions specified in section4301.35or4301.351of the Revised Code are designated in the petition, on the day of the next general election or the next special election held on a day on which a primary election may be held, whichever occurs first.
(3) All petitions filed with a board of elections under this section shall be open to public inspection under rules adopted by the board.
(4) Protest against local option petitions may be filed by any elector eligible to vote on the question or questions described in the petitions or by a permit holder or liquor agency store in the precinct as described in the petitions, not later than four p.m. of the seventy-fourth day before the day of the general or special election for which the petition qualified. The protest shall be in writing and shall be filed with the election officials with whom the petition was filed. Upon filing of the protest, the election officials with whom it is filed shall promptly fix the time for hearing it, and shall mail notice of the filing of the protest and the time and place for hearing it to the person who filed the petition and to the person who filed the protest. At the time and place fixed, the election officials shall hear the protest and determine the validity of the petition.
(C) A petition presented to a board of elections under division (B) of this section shall be signed by the following number of qualified electors:
(1) If the petition is for an election for the submission of one or more of the questions specified in section4301.35of the Revised Code, an amount of qualified electors of the precinct equal in number to thirty-five per cent of the total number of votes cast in the precinct concerned for the office of governor at the preceding general election for that office;
(2) If the petition is for an election for the submission of one or more of the questions specified in section4301.35of the Revised Code and the submission of one or more of the questions specified in section4301.351of the Revised Code, an amount of qualified electors of the precinct equal in number to thirty-five per cent of the total number of votes cast in the precinct concerned for the office of governor at the preceding general election for that office;
(3) If the petition is for an election for the submission of one or more of the questions specified in section4301.351of the Revised Code, fifty electors.
Last updated August 8, 2023 at 9:28 AM