Ohio Legal Research Blog

11.07.2006

Direct democracy in action

The initiative petition process has been brought to the fore for this Election Day in Ohio and other states. The Initiative and Referendum Almanac (Carolina Academic Press, 2003) by M. Dane Waters details the process for all fifty-states and other government entities. The bulk of the book is Chapter 4, a state-by-state history and overview; the complete table of contents is here. A useful reference chart is in the Appendix, Section E: listing of statewide initiatives since 1904. The author of Chapter 3 has posted his work "I&R in American Cities: basic patterns," along with more readings on direct democracy.

11.06.2006

Constitutional amendments for 2006

Ohio's fall 2006 General Election brings a number of constitutional amendments to the ballot. Issue one votes will not be counted as it has been ruled that "petitioners failed to timely file sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot;" (See Mahaffey v. Blackwell, 2006 Ohio 5475, appeal denied by the Ohio Supreme Court on Oct. 20, 2006 and earlier 2006 Ohio 5319, decided Oct. 11, 2006 in the Franklin County Court of Appeals). Issues 2,3,4, and 5 have all been proposed by the initiative petition process, while Issue one used the referendum process. For a basic list of all the Issues on the ballot, see the Directory of Ohio State Issues posted by the League of Women Voters of Ohio.