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Do IT this week: Layering
By Dennis J. Willard
Beacon Journal Columbus Bureau
Published on Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009
COLUMBUS: For the past two decades, groups upset with the laws the state legislature and governors have passed or not enacted have taken it to the streets, collected signatures and then gone directly to voters with referendums and constitutional amendments.
It is the essence of a democracy to be able to bypass indifferent elected officials, but Ohio and the 23 other states that allow initiative petitions have also witnessed a wave of abuse and fraud as the stakes have risen at the polls.
Each election cycle it seems to get worse.
Since 2000, groups successfully have launched 11 initiative petition drives to bring issues directly to voters, with seven passing and four failing.
Thanks to voter support of initiatives, Ohio will build four casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Cincinnati; the state's Constitution recognizes marriage only between a man and a woman; the minimum wage is higher; and we have a tough nonsmoking policy.
Petition drives that failed in the new millennium in Ohio include two other casino plans, a less restrictive smoking policy for businesses, and a series of reforms on absentee voting, campaign finance, gerrymandering legislative districts and the election oversight role for the Ohio secretary of state.
When the stakes are large — with well-financed competing interests like this year's amendment to allow four casinos in Ohio — the campaigns can be as brutal as presidential races.
Opponents of the four-casino plan charged the petition circulators with misleading the public in an effort to secure a sufficient number of signatures to make the ballot.
Casinos were approved.
In 2008, similar issues arose when the payday lending industry launched a referendum effort to kill a law that reduced the interest the storefronts could charge for short-term loans.
Opponents videotaped the petition circulators misleading the public about the content and meaning of the ballot issue.
A range of problems tainted a process that voters should embrace.
Large numbers of invalid signatures are submitted, known felons work the streets with signup sheets, voters are lied to or misinformed about the issue, payments for signatures, even dead people show up on lists.
Now, except for a few wrist slaps, no one is truly punished or even hindered in their efforts.
Campaign officials point fingers at the individuals circulating the petitions and claim they can't control the people they put out on the street.
The companies — and this is a growth industry — that circulate the petitions make similar claims, and the individuals who stand on corners and ask people to sign too often say they were not properly instructed or they misunderstood the nature of the issue.
In a perfect marriage of ambition and good government, state Rep. Jennifer Garrison, D-Marietta, introduced legislation last week to address some of the holes in Ohio's initiative petition laws.
Garrison is running as the Democratic candidate for secretary of state in 2010.
Her ideas could not come at a better time.
She bases the proposed legislation on problems outlined by the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which was formed in 2004 to begin looking into the growing problems associated with efforts to go directly to the voters.
Ohio earned a ''D'' with a grade of 68 percent on the center's report card based on standards, transparency, accountability, oversight and enforcement.
Although Ohio does poorly for grading purposes, the state is tied with six others that rank third best among 24 states that permit initiative petitions.
So where does Ohio fall down?
Petition circulators are not required to register with the state, and circulators with felony or forgery records can still work in Ohio.
In the oversight and enforcement section, Ohio fails three of six benchmarks.
These include stopping circulation companies from paying in large part based on the number of signatures collected, lacking specific penalties for violating wage and hour laws, and not prosecuting a campaign committee for knowingly encouraging the violation of signature gathering laws.
The state is applauded for requiring a circulator to sign the petition sheets stating the signatures were collected in accordance with state law, but loses points because the affidavit need not be notarized.
Ohio also was dinged for not allowing public input in the ballot title process.
The center points out that professional ''mercenaries'' are at work, traveling from state to state, carrying any petition, regardless of topic, and usually getting paid per signature.
With money as the driving force, these mercenaries are willing to bend, or break, state laws, submit misleading or incomplete petitions, use bait-and-switch tactics to get signatures, and lie to the public to fill out their sheets.
The center also points out that ''because some states and companies do not enforce regulations and because the lure of money is strong, circulators often see it in their best interest to cheat the system.''
Garrison wants to make changes with her proposed law, which she calls the Ballot Integrity Act.
Part of the problem is circulators and the companies that hire them do not follow the rules, and the rules are also weak, Garrison said.
Her proposal would give the Ohio secretary of state, the office she is seeking, more power over the process.
Petition circulators would have to be trained and register to be licensed by the secretary of state, who would be empowered to deny or revoke existing licenses from anyone who broke the law in any state.
The secretary of state would also have the authority to invalidate signatures collected under fraudulent circumstances and to train circulators about the laws that apply to them.
Garrison said the companies that are paid big bucks to get these issues on the ballot could hire only registered and licensed circulators.
If a company knowingly allows a circulator to spread false information or to collect signatures in a fraudulent manner, then the secretary of state could suspend the firm's operations in Ohio for three to six months, or an election cycle, Garrison said.
The national ballot center reviewed Garrison's proposal and indicated Ohio could raise its grade to an ''A'' if the legislation is enacted.
At minimum, Garrison should get an ''A'' for the first effort to seriously address major problems in the current system.
Dennis J. Willard can be reached at 614-224-1613 or dwillard@thebeaconjournal.com.
COLUMBUS: For the past two decades, groups upset with the laws the state legislature and governors have passed or not enacted have taken it to the streets, collected signatures and then gone directly to voters with referendums and constitutional amendments.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
hudson, oh
Posted 02:10 PM, 11/17/2009
Comment?
It's legal to carry a loaded handgun, but illegal to carry a pack of firecrackers.
Based on this example, the laws are a joke.
AKRON, OH
Posted 07:02 PM, 11/17/2009
"Petition circulators would have to be trained and register to be licensed by the secretary of state"
GOOD FIRST STEP - THIS PROCESS SHOULD NOT BE A FREE FOR ALL - ETHICS AND INTEGRITY BY THOSE CONDUCTING THIS WORK - OR FACE PENALTIES
Lake Ridge, VA
Posted 04:23 PM, 11/18/2009
Unfortunately, these proposed "reforms" are the system being hijacked by well-finance special interests. This misleading article leaves out the fact that Rep. Garrison is doing the bidding of the far left. The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) works with corrupt groups like ACORN to limit the ability of citizens to use the ballot initiative process to control government. Rather than care about integrity of the process, their aim is to make it harder for grassroots efforts with a conservative bend to be able to use the petition process. A quick look at their website will show you their total partisan slant. Garrison should get a big fat "F" for failing to look out for voters' rights.
These changes are actually restrictions that will drive up the cost of doing a petition drive, further ensuring that ONLY well funded special interests can use the process.
The ballot initiative is the people's tool to have a real say in their government, and one has to wonder why anyone would want to cut down on the number of initiatives. It looks like Rep. Garrison and her far left friends doesn't like democracy, or the voice of her constituents being heard. Why else would she want to make it harder for people to exercise their first amendment right to petition their government?
Politicians like Garrison simply don't want the people's voice to be heard, and that's sad. It looks like she is just another politician trying to increase her power. Ohio voters should prevent that by voting against her for Secretary of State.
