Number of signatures needed per county:
Q. Please explain this chart. I don't understand it.
PINK Column (5%): This is simply included to determine if you have met the minimum "distribution requirement". Ohio law requires that the petition must include signatures from at least 5% of 44 counties. You can use this column to determine if the 5% requirement has been met for your county. But keep in mind, this number is NOT a minimum signature requirement, but rather a minimum DISTRIBUTION requirement.
Q. What does that mean... "distribution requirement"?
A. This requirement is intended to ensure that all the signatures don't come from the top three or five most populous counties, thereby ensuring that the smaller, rural counties have a say in Ohio's legislative process.
YELLOW Column (10%): This column shows the MINIMUM number of signatures required to submit the petition to the Secretary of State's office. In reality, we will need significantly more than this number because many signatures will be disqualified.
Q. Why will some signatures be disqualified?
A. Various reasons, including people signing on the wrong county's petition, signing using a name that doesn't match their voter registration, signers who are not registered to vote, illegible information, signature doesn't match voter registration signature, moved but didn't change their address on their voter registration, and many more. Keep in mind the government doesn't WANT this to pass, so they are not our friend in this effort. They will disquality every signature they can, for any reason they can find. Please be diligent about these details when you sign.
GREEN Column (15%): This column shows the target, or optimal number of signatures we would like to have before submitting the petition to the Secretary of State's office. More would be even better, but we'd like to reach at least this number.
Q. What if my county doesn't reach this number?
A. These are all average numbers. In other words, if we are short in some counties, we would need to exceed 15% in some other counties to make up for the shortfall. As long as we meet the overall 15% AND meet the 5% of 44 counties distribution requirement, we should be okay.