Say No to SB 153 and HB 233
Anti-Democracy Lawmakers
Direct democracy – the power to go directly to the voter when lawmakers ignore the will of the people – is a right that has been held by Ohioans for over 100 years. Not long ago, extremist lawmakers at the Ohio Statehouse tried their best to take that right away, but in August 2023, we said NO!
Now they’re back, with a vengeance. They don’t like it when voters go against them, so now they’re attacking the people who put issues before the voters by bullying, threatening, and possibly prosecuting volunteers who step up to collect signatures. This time, they are going even further by proposing harsh barriers for local zoning, county charters, candidates, and statewide initiative and referendum campaigns. We say NO!
Sign our petition and say NO to SB 153 and HB 233.
Sponsored by
To:
Anti-Democracy Lawmakers
From:
Jess Willard
SB 153 and HB 233 are attacks against the Ohioans who put boots on the ground, collecting signatures for our democracy. These are our grandmothers, grandfathers, our parents, our friends and family, and our coworkers, all who spend their weekends collecting signatures and fighting for workers’ rights and voters’ rights.
Volunteers who collect signatures would be forced to sign away their 5th Amendment constitutional rights, potentially subjecting them to politically motivated investigations. “Compensated” circulators would be required to wear badges, but “compensated” is defined so broadly it even applies to volunteers who receive free pizza or a t-shirt.
The bills also invent new reasons for throwing out signatures and petition booklets, raising the already steep barrier to getting an initiative on the ballot.
SB 153 and HB 233 would attack our ability to bring issues to the ballot, and this wrongheaded fear campaign over voter ID will actually end up preventing hundreds of thousands eligible Ohioans from casting a regular ballot.