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Ohio Supreme Court rules the attorney general can’t block an amendment effort based on its title

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — When the attorney general gets a proposed constitutional amendment to review before signatures can be gathered to get it to the ballot, he doesn’t have the authority to review the title of the amendment. That’s the unanimous ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court.

The Ohio Supreme Court building from the outside
The Ohio Supreme Court building in Columbus. [Daniel Konik | Statehouse News Bureau]
Backers of an amendment that would repeal some election-related laws and change others first submitted a proposal last year under the title “Secure and Fair Elections”. Attorney General Dave Yost cited four flaws with the submission, including the title.

The group, led by the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, reworded the amendment summary and changed the title to “Ohio Voters Bill of Rights“. Yost rejected this submission, saying he found the title misleading.

The group sued, saying Yost didn’t have the authority to review the title. Yost argued to the Ohio Supreme Court his power covers a review of the amendment’s summary and the title, because otherwise proponents of an amendment could submit a misleading title.

But the court ruled unanimously that state law clearly says the AG can review the summary, but not the title, and that his concerns should be addressed to state lawmakers.

The opinion, signed onto by all justices, noted state law “shows that the General Assembly knows how to use the word ‘title’ when it intends to do so. A ‘title’ is not the same thing as a ‘summary,’ and the current statute unambiguously tasks the attorney general with examining only the latter.”

The court also noted “the attorney general has made clear that he did not review the summary to determine whether it fairly and truthfully summarizes the proposed amendment; he reviewed only the title.” They ordered Yost to review the summary within 10 days.

The proposed amendment would put into the Ohio constitution same-day voter registration, expanded rights to early in-person voting, and set up no-excuse absentee voting. It would allow more than one ballot drop box per person and would allow the use of photo IDs issued by educational institutions including universities. And it says state lawmakers “may pass laws expanding and facilitating the rights and opportunities guaranteed under this Amendment, but in no matter denying or limiting them.”