The Ohio attorney general’s office has accepted the petition title and summary of a proposed constitutional amendment called the “Ohio Equal Rights Amendment” that seeks to add a Section 23 to Article I of the Ohio Constitution and to revise Article XV, Section 11.
According to the website of the group submitting the petition, Ohio Equal Rights, the proposed amendment would limit the Ohio legislature’s power to discriminate against a citizen of the state based on “race, color, creed or religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression regardless of sex assigned at birth, pregnancy status, genetic information, disease status, age, disability, recovery status, familial status, ancestry, national origin or military or veteran status.”
It also would remove language in Ohio’s constitution defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman.
“The submitted title and summary comply with Section 3519.01(A) as interpreted by the federal courts,” said a response letter sent by the AG’s office to the petitioners. “This certification should not be construed as an affirmation of the enforceability, constitutionality or wisdom of the proposed amendment.”
As the next step in the process, the Ohio Ballot Board must determine whether the proposal contains a single constitutional amendment or multiple constitutional amendments.
If the board certifies the proposal, the petitioners must then collect signatures from registered voters equal to at least 10 percent of the vote cast in the most recent gubernatorial election. Those signatures must come from voters in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, and for each of those counties the number must equal at least 5 percent of the vote cast in the most recent gubernatorial election.
If sufficient signatures are verified by the Ohio secretary of state’s office at least 65 days before the election, the full text of the proposed amendment will be placed on the ballot in the next regular or general election that occurs subsequent to 125 days after the filing of such petition.
