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Citizens Not Politicians Submitted More Than Enough Signatures

Published on 7/26/2024

Late in the day on Wednesday, July 23, Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced that Citizens Not Politicians submitted 535,005 valid signatures in support of its proposed anti-gerrymandering amendment, with qualifying percentages from over 58 counties.

This easily exceeded the required minimum of 413,487 signatures, with qualifying percentages from 44 counties.

Earlier this month, CNP sent the Secretary of State many boxes of petitions with 735,000 signatures with signatures from all 88 counties in the state. We now know that 73.2% of those signatures were accepted by the local Boards of Elections as verifiable and unique -- an excellent record for a citizens petition drive.

Learn more about the facts and figures on the Citizens Not Politicians website, here.

The measure next goes to the Ohio Ballot Board, which will prepare summary language for the ballot and assign an issue number. This step will occur around August 23.

The League of Women Voters of Ohio Will Lead our LWV Campaign for the Amendment

The League of Women Voters of Ohio, as part of the longstanding Fair Districts Ohio coalition, will work hard to ensure that voters support the proposed amendment in November.

LWVGC will work with LWVOhio and Fair Districts in this effort, and we welcome your participation.

We will contact voters by knocking on doors, sending messages, and handing out materials at public events.

We are recruiting members who would like to speak to groups about the amendment, and we welcome your ideas about finding groups to whom we might speak.

When we have an issue number (which will occur in late August), we will distribute yard signs.

This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for LWVOhio's highest advocacy priority. LWVOhio has been working on gerrymandering reform for more than 40 years, and this is the best opportunity for meaningful reform in that time.

If you would like to volunteer to help, go to the Redistricting Reform page of the LWV Ohio website,Redistricting Reform page of the LWV Ohio website. You will find links to volunteer and -- just as important -- to donate. Due to uncertainties created by Special Session H.B.1 regarding donations from non-U.S. sources, LWV Ohio will not use funds on hand and instead is raising money through procedures designed to avoid any concerns about H.B.1 compliance.

If you are interested in donating directly to LWV Greater Cleveland to support our advocacy on this issue, email Catherine LaCroix, clacroix@lwvgreatercleveland.org, for details. Due to our own need to ensure compliance with Special Session H.B.1 regarding donations from non-U.S. sources, we need to follow specific procedures for processing such donations. Although we will rely on LWVOhio's funds as much as we can, we will have distinct and relatively modest funding needs for our own operations.

H.B.1 is just the beginning of determined politician-led efforts to defeat this important reform. We need to stand firm, share accurate information with the public -- including our Ohio family and friends -- and work hard in support of this ballot measure.

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Citizens Not Politicians Submitted More Than Enough Signatures