As Introduced

136th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 299

2025-2026

To amend sections 3501.01, 3501.38, 3503.06, 3519.05, and 3519.06 and to enact section 3519.11 of the Revised Code to require statewide initiative petition circulators to be licensed by the Secretary of State.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 3501.01, 3501.38, 3503.06, 3519.05, and 3519.06 be amended and section 3519.11 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 3501.01. As used in the sections of the Revised Code relating to elections and political communications:

(A) "General election" means the election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in each November.

(B) "Regular municipal election" means the election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each odd-numbered year.

(C) "Regular state election" means the election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each even-numbered year.

(D) "Special election" means any election other than those elections defined in other divisions of this section. A special election may be held only on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May or November, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in August in accordance with section 3501.022 of the Revised Code, or on the day authorized by a particular municipal or county charter for the holding of a primary election, except that in any year in which a presidential primary election is held, no special election shall be held in May, except as authorized by a municipal or county charter, but may be held on the third Tuesday after the first Monday in March.

(E)(1) "Primary" or "primary election" means an election held for the purpose of nominating persons as candidates of political parties for election to offices, and for the purpose of electing persons as members of the controlling committees of political parties and as delegates and alternates to the conventions of political parties. Primary elections shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May of each year except in years in which a presidential primary election is held.

(2) "Presidential primary election" means a primary election as defined by division (E)(1) of this section at which an election is held for the purpose of choosing delegates and alternates to the national conventions of the major political parties pursuant to section 3513.12 of the Revised Code. Unless otherwise specified, presidential primary elections are included in references to primary elections. In years in which a presidential primary election is held, all primary elections shall be held on the third Tuesday after the first Monday in March except as otherwise authorized by a municipal or county charter.

(F) "Political party" means any group of voters meeting the requirements set forth in section 3517.01 of the Revised Code for the formation and existence of a political party.

(1) "Major political party" means any political party organized under the laws of this state whose candidate for governor or nominees for presidential electors received not less than twenty per cent of the total vote cast for such office at the most recent regular state election.

(2) "Minor political party" means any political party organized under the laws of this state that meets either of the following requirements:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this division, the political party's candidate for governor or nominees for presidential electors received less than twenty per cent but not less than three per cent of the total vote cast for such office at the most recent regular state election. A political party that meets the requirements of this division remains a political party for a period of four years after meeting those requirements.

(b) The political party has filed with the secretary of state, subsequent to its failure to meet the requirements of division (F)(2)(a) of this section, a petition that meets the requirements of section 3517.01 of the Revised Code.

A newly formed political party shall be known as a minor political party until the time of the first election for governor or president which occurs not less than twelve months subsequent to the formation of such party, after which election the status of such party shall be determined by the vote for the office of governor or president.

(G) "Dominant party in a precinct" or "dominant political party in a precinct" means that political party whose candidate for election to the office of governor at the most recent regular state election at which a governor was elected received more votes than any other person received for election to that office in such precinct at such election.

(H) "Candidate" means any qualified person certified in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Code for placement on the official ballot of a primary, general, or special election to be held in this state, or any qualified person who claims to be a write-in candidate, or who knowingly assents to being represented as a write-in candidate by another at either a primary, general, or special election to be held in this state.

(I) "Independent candidate" means any candidate who claims not to be affiliated with a political party, and whose name has been certified on the office-type ballot at a general or special election through the filing of a statement of candidacy and nominating petition, as prescribed in section 3513.257 of the Revised Code.

(J) "Nonpartisan candidate" means any candidate whose name is required, pursuant to section 3505.04 of the Revised Code, to be listed on the nonpartisan ballot, including all candidates for judge of a municipal court, county court, or court of common pleas, for member of any board of education, for municipal or township offices in which primary elections are not held for nominating candidates by political parties, and for offices of municipal corporations having charters that provide for separate ballots for elections for these offices.

(K) "Party candidate" means any candidate who claims to be a member of a political party and who has been certified to appear on the office-type ballot at a general or special election as the nominee of a political party because the candidate has won the primary election of the candidate's party for the public office the candidate seeks, has been nominated under section 3517.012, or is selected by party committee in accordance with section 3513.31 of the Revised Code.

(L) "Officer of a political party" includes, but is not limited to, any member, elected or appointed, of a controlling committee, whether representing the territory of the state, a district therein, a county, township, a city, a ward, a precinct, or other territory, of a major or minor political party.

(M) "Question or issue" means any question or issue certified in accordance with the Revised Code for placement on an official ballot at a general or special election to be held in this state.

(N) "Elector" or "qualified elector" means a person having the qualifications provided by law to be entitled to vote.

(O) "Voter" means an elector who votes at an election.

(P) "Voting residence" means that place of residence of an elector which shall determine the precinct in which the elector may vote.

(Q) "Precinct" means a district within a county established by the board of elections of such county within which all qualified electors having a voting residence therein may vote at the same polling place.

(R) "Polling place" means that place provided for each precinct at which the electors having a voting residence in such precinct may vote.

(S) "Board" or "board of elections" means the board of elections appointed in a county pursuant to section 3501.06 of the Revised Code.

(T) "Political subdivision" means a county, township, city, village, or school district.

(U) "Election officer" or "election official" means any of the following:

(1) Secretary of state;

(2) Employees of the secretary of state serving the division of elections in the capacity of attorney, administrative officer, administrative assistant, elections administrator, office manager, or clerical supervisor;

(3) Director of a board of elections;

(4) Deputy director of a board of elections;

(5) Member of a board of elections;

(6) Employees of a board of elections;

(7) Precinct election officials;

(8) Employees appointed by the boards of elections on a temporary or part-time basis.

(V) "Acknowledgment notice" means a notice sent by a board of elections, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state, informing a voter registration applicant or an applicant who wishes to change the applicant's residence or name of the status of the application; the information necessary to complete or update the application, if any; and if the application is complete, the precinct in which the applicant is to vote.

(W) "Confirmation notice" means a notice sent by a board of elections, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state, to a registered elector to confirm the registered elector's current address.

(X) "Designated agency" means an office or agency in the state that provides public assistance or that provides state-funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities and that is required by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to implement a program designed and administered by the secretary of state for registering voters, or any other public or government office or agency that implements a program designed and administered by the secretary of state for registering voters, including the department of job and family services, the program administered under section 3701.132 of the Revised Code by the department of health, the department of mental health and addiction services, the department of developmental disabilities, the opportunities for Ohioans with disabilities agency, and any other agency the secretary of state designates. "Designated agency" does not include public high schools and vocational schools, public libraries, or the office of a county treasurer.

(Y) "National Voter Registration Act of 1993" means the "National Voter Registration Act of 1993," 107 Stat. 77, 42 U.S.C.A. 1973gg.

(Z) "Voting Rights Act of 1965" means the "Voting Rights Act of 1965," 79 Stat. 437, 42 U.S.C.A. 1973, as amended.

(AA)(1) "Photo identification" means one of the following documents that includes the individual's name and photograph and is not expired:

(a) An Ohio driver's license, state identification card, or interim identification form issued by the registrar of motor vehicles or a deputy registrar under Chapter 4506. or 4507. of the Revised Code;

(b) A United States passport or passport card;

(c) A United States military identification card, Ohio national guard identification card, or United States department of veterans affairs identification card.

(2) A "copy" of an individual's photo identification means images of both the front and back of a document described in division (AA)(1) of this section, except that if the document is a United States passport, a copy of the photo identification means an image of the passport's identification page that includes the individual's name, photograph, and other identifying information and the passport's expiration date.

(BB) "Driver's license" means a license or permit issued by the registrar or a deputy registrar under Chapter 4506. or 4507. of the Revised Code that authorizes an individual to drive. "Driver's license" includes a driver's license, commercial driver's license, probationary license, restricted license, motorcycle operator's license, or temporary instruction permit identification card. "Driver's license" does not include a limited term license issued under section 4507.09 of the Revised Code.

(CC) "State identification card" means a card issued by the registrar or a deputy registrar under sections 4507.50 to 4507.52 of the Revised Code.

(DD) "Interim identification form" means the document issued by the registrar or a deputy registrar to an applicant for a driver's license or state identification card that contains all of the information otherwise found on the license or card and that an applicant may use as a form of identification until the physical license or card arrives in the mail.

(EE) "Statewide initiative petition" means an initiative petition for the submission of a proposed law or constitutional amendment to the electors of the state, including any supplementary petition for additional signatures to such an initiative petition.

Sec. 3501.38. All declarations of candidacy, nominating petitions, or other petitions presented to or filed with the secretary of state or a board of elections or with any other public office for the purpose of becoming a candidate for any nomination or office or for the holding of an election on any issue shall, in addition to meeting the other specific requirements prescribed in the sections of the Revised Code relating to them, be governed by the following rules:

(A) Only electors qualified to vote on the candidacy or issue which is the subject of the petition shall sign a petition. Each signer shall be a registered elector pursuant to section 3503.01 of the Revised Code. The facts of qualification shall be determined as of the date when the petition is filed.

(B) Signatures shall be affixed in ink. Each signer may also print the signer's name, so as to clearly identify the signer's signature.

(C) Each signer shall place on the petition after the signer's name the date of signing and the location of the signer's voting residence, including the street and number if in a municipal corporation or the rural route number, post office address, or township if outside a municipal corporation. The voting address given on the petition shall be the address appearing in the registration records at the board of elections.

(D) Except as otherwise provided in section 3501.382 of the Revised Code, no person shall write any name other than the person's own on any petition. Except as otherwise provided in section 3501.382 of the Revised Code, no person may authorize another to sign for the person. If a petition contains the signature of an elector two or more times, only the first signature shall be counted.

(E)(1) On each petition paper, the circulator shall indicate the number of signatures contained on it, and shall sign a statement made under penalty of election falsification that the circulator witnessed the affixing of every signature, that all signers were to the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief qualified to sign, and that every signature is to the best of the circulator's knowledge and belief the signature of the person whose signature it purports to be or of an attorney in fact acting pursuant to section 3501.382 of the Revised Code. On the circulator's statement for a declaration of candidacy or nominating petition for a person seeking to become a statewide candidate, for a statewide initiative or a statewide referendum petition, or for a party formation petition described in division (A)(1)(b) of section 3517.01 of the Revised Code, the circulator shall identify the circulator's name, the address of the circulator's permanent residence, and the name and address of the person employing the circulator to circulate the petition, if any. On the circulator's statement for a statewide initiative petition, the circulator also shall write the circulator's circulator license number issued under section 3519.11 of the Revised Code.

(2) As used in division (E) of this section, "statewide candidate" means the joint candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor or a candidate for the office of secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, or attorney general.

(F) Except as otherwise provided in section 3501.382 of the Revised Code, if a circulator knowingly permits an unqualified person to sign a petition paper or permits a person to write a name other than the person's own on a petition paper, that petition paper is invalid; otherwise, the signature of a person not qualified to sign shall be rejected but shall not invalidate the other valid signatures on the paper.

(G) The circulator of a petition may, before filing it in a public office, strike from it any signature the circulator does not wish to present as a part of the petition.

(H) Any signer of a petition or an attorney in fact acting pursuant to section 3501.382 of the Revised Code on behalf of a signer may remove the signer's signature from that petition at any time before the petition is filed in a public office by striking the signer's name from the petition; no signature may be removed after the petition is filed in any public office.

(I)(1) No alterations, corrections, or additions may be made to a petition after it is filed in a public office.

(2)(a) No declaration of candidacy, nominating petition, or other petition for the purpose of becoming a candidate may be withdrawn after it is filed in a public office. Nothing in this division prohibits a person from withdrawing as a candidate as otherwise provided by law.

(b) No petition presented to or filed with the secretary of state, a board of elections, or any other public office for the purpose of the holding of an election on any question or issue may be resubmitted after it is withdrawn from a public office or rejected as containing insufficient signatures. Nothing in this division prevents a question or issue petition from being withdrawn by the filing of a written notice of the withdrawal by a majority of the members of the petitioning committee with the same public office with which the petition was filed prior to the sixtieth day before the election at which the question or issue is scheduled to appear on the ballot.

(J) All declarations of candidacy, nominating petitions, or other petitions under this section shall be accompanied by the following statement in boldface capital letters: WHOEVER COMMITS ELECTION FALSIFICATION IS GUILTY OF A FELONY OF THE FIFTH DEGREE.

(K) All separate petition papers shall be filed at the same time, as one instrument.

(L) If a board of elections distributes for use a petition form for a declaration of candidacy, nominating petition, or any type of question or issue petition that does not satisfy the requirements of law as of the date of that distribution, the board shall not invalidate the petition on the basis that the petition form does not satisfy the requirements of law, if the petition otherwise is valid. Division (L) of this section applies only if the candidate received the petition from the board within ninety days of when the petition is required to be filed.

(M)(1) Upon receiving an initiative petition, or a petition filed under section 307.94 or 307.95 of the Revised Code, concerning a ballot issue that is to be submitted to the electors of a county or municipal political subdivision, the board of elections shall examine the petition to determine:

(a) Whether the petition falls within the scope of a municipal political subdivision's authority to enact via initiative, including, if applicable, the limitations placed by Sections 3 and 7 of Article XVIII of the Ohio Constitution on the authority of municipal corporations to adopt local police, sanitary, and other similar regulations as are not in conflict with general laws, and whether the petition satisfies the statutory prerequisites to place the issue on the ballot. The petition shall be invalid if any portion of the petition is not within the initiative power; or

(b) Whether the petition falls within the scope of a county's authority to enact via initiative, including whether the petition conforms to the requirements set forth in Section 3 of Article X of the Ohio Constitution, including the exercise of only those powers that have vested in, and the performance of all duties imposed upon counties and county officers by law, and whether the petition satisfies the statutory prerequisites to place the issue on the ballot. The finding of the board shall be subject to challenge by a protest filed pursuant to division (B) of section 307.95 of the Revised Code.

(2) After making a determination under division (M)(1)(a) or (b) of this section, the board of elections shall promptly transmit a copy of the petition and a notice of the board's determination to the office of the secretary of state. Notice of the board's determination shall be given to the petitioners and the political subdivision.

(3) If multiple substantially similar initiative petitions are submitted to multiple boards of elections and the determinations of the boards under division (M)(1)(a) or (b) of this section concerning those petitions differ, the secretary of state shall make a single determination under division (M)(1)(a) or (b) of this section that shall apply to each such initiative petition.

Sec. 3503.06. (A) No person shall be entitled to vote at any election, unless the person is registered as an elector and will have resided in the county and precinct where the person is registered for at least thirty days at the time of the next election.

(B) No person shall be entitled to sign any petition, unless the person is registered as an elector and resides in a precinct in which the candidacy or issue that is the subject of the petition will appear on the ballot.

(C)(1)(a) Except for a nominating petition for presidential electors, no person shall be entitled to circulate any petition unless the person is a resident of this state and is at least eighteen years of age. In the case of a statewide initiative petition, the person also shall hold a valid circulator license issued under section 3519.11 of the Revised Code.

(b) No person shall be entitled to circulate a nominating petition for presidential electors unless the person is at least eighteen years of age.

(2) All election officials, in determining the residence of a person circulating a petition under division (C)(1) of this section, shall be governed by the following rules:

(a) That place shall be considered the residence of a person in which the person's habitation is fixed and to which, whenever the person is absent, the person has the intention of returning.

(b) A person shall not be considered to have lost the person's residence who leaves the person's home and goes into another state for temporary purposes only, with the intention of returning.

(c) A person shall not be considered to have gained a residence in any county of this state into which the person comes for temporary purposes only, without the intention of making that county the permanent place of abode.

(d) If a person removes to another state with the intention of making that state the person's residence, the person shall be considered to have lost the person's residence in this state.

(e) Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(2)(f) of this section, if a person removes from this state and continuously resides outside this state for a period of four years or more, the person shall be considered to have lost the person's residence in this state, notwithstanding the fact that the person may entertain an intention to return at some future period.

(f) If a person removes from this state to engage in the services of the United States government, the person shall not be considered to have lost the person's residence in this state during the period of that service, and likewise should the person enter the employment of the state, the place where that person resided at the time of the person's removal shall be considered to be the person's place of residence.

(g) If a person goes into another state and, while there, exercises the right of a citizen by voting, the person shall be considered to have lost the person's residence in this state.

Sec. 3519.05. (A) If the measure to be submitted proposes a constitutional amendment, the heading of each part of the petition shall be prepared in the following form, and printed in capital letters in type of the approximate size set forth:

"INITIATIVE PETITION

Amendment to the Constitution

Proposed by Initiative Petition

To be submitted directly to the electors"

"Amendment" printed in fourteen-point boldface type shall precede the title, which shall be briefly expressed and printed in eight-point type. The summary shall then be set forth printed in ten-point type, and then shall follow the certification of the attorney general, under proper date, which shall also be printed in ten-point type. The petition shall then set forth the names and addresses of the committee of not less than three nor more than five to represent the petitioners in all matters relating to the petition or its circulation.

Immediately above the heading of the place for signatures on each part of the petition the following notice shall be printed in boldface type:

"NOTICE

Whoever knowingly signs this petition more than once; except as provided in section 3501.382 of the Revised Code, signs a name other than one's own on this petition; or signs this petition when not a qualified voter, is liable to prosecution."

The heading of the place for signatures shall be substantially as follows:

"(Sign with ink. Your name, residence, and date of signing must be given.)

_______________________________________________________________

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
A				Rural Route or
B				other Post-
C	Signature	County	Township	office Address	Month	Day	Year

_______________________________________________________________

(Voters who do not live in a municipal corporation should fill in the information called for by headings printed above.)

(Voters who reside in municipal corporations should fill in the information called for by headings printed below.)

_______________________________________________________________

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
A			City	Street
B			or	and
C	Signature	County	Village	Number	Ward	Precinct	Month	Day	Year"

_______________________________________________________________

The text of the proposed amendment shall be printed in full, immediately following the place for signatures, and shall be prefaced by "Be it resolved by the people of the State of Ohio." Immediately following the text of the proposed amendment must appear the following form:

"I, _________, declare under penalty of election falsification that I am the circulator of the foregoing petition paper containing the signatures of _________ electors, that the signatures appended hereto were made and appended in my presence on the date set opposite each respective name, and are the signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be or of attorneys in fact acting pursuant to section 3501.382 of the Revised Code, and that the electors signing this petition did so with knowledge of the contents of same. I am employed to circulate this petition by ________________________________ (Name and address of employer). (The preceding sentence shall be completed as required by section 3501.38 of the Revised Code if the circulator is being employed to circulate the petition.)

(Signed) ________________________

(Address of circulator's permanent

residence in this state)

__________________________________

(Circulator license number) ________________________

WHOEVER COMMITS ELECTION FALSIFICATION IS GUILTY OF A FELONY OF THE FIFTH DEGREE."

(B) If the measure proposes a law, the heading of each part of the petition shall be prepared as follows:

"INITIATIVE PETITION

Law proposed by initiative petition first to be submitted to the General Assembly."

In all other respects, the form shall be as provided for the submission of a constitutional amendment, except that the text of the proposed law shall be prefaced by "Be it enacted by the people of the state of Ohio."

The form for a supplementary initiative petition shall be the same as that provided for an initiative petition, with the exception that "supplementary" shall precede "initiative" in the title thereof.

(C) The general provisions set forth in this section relative to the form and order of an initiative petition shall be, so far as practical, applicable to a referendum petition, the heading of which shall be as follows:

"REFERENDUM PETITION

To be submitted to the electors for their approval or rejection"

The title, which follows the heading, shall contain a brief legislative history of the law, section, or item of law to be referred. The text of the law so referred shall be followed by the certification of the secretary of state, in accordance with division (B)(2)(b) of section 3519.01 of the Revised Code, that it has been compared with the copy of the enrolled act, on file in the secretary of state's office, containing such law, section, or item of law, and found to be correct.

The circulator of a referendum petition is not required to provide a circulator license number.

(D) The secretary of state shall prescribe a form for part petitions to be submitted during the ten-day period beginning on the first day following the date that the secretary of state notifies the chairperson of the committee interested in the petition that the petition has an insufficient number of valid signatures. The secretary of state shall provide to each particular committee a different form that contains a unique identifier and that is separate from the forms prescribed in divisions (A), (B), and (C) of this section. The secretary of state shall make the form available to the committee only as described in division (F) of section 3519.16 of the Revised Code. The form shall not be considered a public record until after the secretary of state makes it available to the committee under that division.

The form shall comply with the requirements of Section 1g of Article II, Ohio Constitution and, except as otherwise provided in this division, with the requirements of divisions (A), (B), and (C) of this section.

Sec. 3519.06. No initiative or referendum part-petition is properly verified if it appears on the face thereof, or is made to appear by a satisfactory evidence:

(A) That the statement required by section 3519.05 of the Revised Code is not properly filled out;

(B) That the statement is not properly signed;

(D) That the statement is false in any respect;

(E) In the case of a statewide initiative petition, that the circulator does not hold a valid circulator license as required under section 3519.11 of the Revised Code;

(F) That any one person has affixed more than one signature thereto.

Sec. 3519.11. (A) A person who circulates a statewide initiative petition shall hold a valid circulator license issued under this section.

(B) A person who wishes to circulate a statewide initiative petition may apply to the secretary of state, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state, for a circulator license. The form shall require all of the following:

(1) That the applicant provide the applicant's name, date of birth, and current residence address;

(2) That the applicant sign a statement affirming the truth of the information the applicant has submitted;

(3) That the form be notarized within one year before the date the form is submitted to the secretary of state.

(C) Not later than ten business days after receiving a valid application for a circulator license under division (B) of this section, the secretary of state shall issue a circulator license to the applicant. The license shall include a unique license number and shall be valid for twenty-four months after the date it is issued.

(D) A person who has been issued a circulator license under this section may apply for a renewed or updated license in the same manner as for an initial license.

(E) The secretary of state shall deny a person a circulator license, and shall revoke a person's existing circulator license, if the secretary of state determines that the person is not qualified to circulate a statewide initiative petition.

(F) The secretary of state shall maintain a registry of current and previously licensed circulators and make it available to the boards of elections for purposes of verifying part-petitions. The registry shall include all of the following concerning each circulator:

(1) The person's name;

(2) The person's circulator license number;

(3) The issue date and expiration date of the person's license.

(G) A completed application for a circulator license and the registry of circulators described in division (F) of this section are not subject to disclosure as public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

Section 2. That existing sections 3501.01, 3501.38, 3503.06, 3519.05, and 3519.06 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. A part-petition of a statewide initiative petition, as defined in section 3501.01 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act, that is signed by one or more electors before the effective date of this section is not invalid on the ground that the part-petition does not meet the requirements of the Revised Code, as amended by this act, so long as the part-petition meets the requirements of the Revised Code that were in effect on the day before the effective date of this section.