ResponsibleOhio Signature Count Expected This Week, Though State Auditor’s Not

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted says that Responsible Ohio has met all requirements to have the legalization of marijuana amendment on the November ballot.

Not a Subscriber? Get a digital subscription at 99¢ for 8 weeks. The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday announced the launch of a coalition of area businesses and organizations united against the expansion of marijuana use in the Dayton region and Ohio.

A request from WCPO for records verifying each of counties’ filings hasn’t been answered by the state.

Tuesday, Ohio’s Board of Election offices turned in their findings on the supplemental signatures RO sent.

ResponsibleOhio says records obtained from each of Ohio’s 88 county board of election offices by the group’s law firm McTique & McGinnis of Columbus confirm that more than 33,200 signatures are valid – well above the almost 30,000 the group needs to qualify, James said.

The petitioners, known as ResponsibleOhio, needed to gather 305,591 signatures in order to secure a place on the ballot, a number equal to 10 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election, 2014.

Should ResponsibleOhio land the final sign-offs it needs, it’s likely to face stiff competition at the ballot.

The bulk of the weed will produced by 10 indoor growing factories that are controlled by the investors who are bankrolling the constitutional amendment campaign.

It looks like Ohio voters will be the first in the country to decide whether to legalize recreational and medical marijuana at the same time. “A legalized, properly licensed market should be available to all comers, not just the few with the money to enshrine into the Ohio Constitution a monopoly for themselves”, he wrote.

“We think we should look at this (legalization) a little more methodically”, Parker said.