As Introduced
135th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 667
2023-2024
Representatives Upchurch, Piccolantonio
A BILL
To amend sections 3505.061, 3505.062, and 3519.21 1
and to enact section 3505.064 of the Revised 2
Code to modify the membership, procedures, and 3
powers of the Ohio Ballot Board and to declare 4
an emergency. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 3505.061, 3505.062, and 3519.21 6
be amended and section 3505.064 of the Revised Code be enacted 7
to read as follows: 8
Sec. 3505.061. (A)(A)(1) The Ohio ballot board, as 9
authorized by Section 1 of Article XVI, Ohio Constitution, shall 10
consist of the secretary of state and four appointed members. No 11
more than two of the appointed members shall be of the same 12
political party. One of the Appointed members of the board shall 13
be appointed by meet the president eligibility requirements 14
described in section 3505.064 of the Revised Code. 15
(2) The president of the senate, one shall be appointed by 16
and the minority leader of the senate, one shall be appointed by 17
acting jointly, shall appoint two members of the board, and the 18
speaker of the house of representatives, and one shall be 19
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appointed by the minority leader of the house of 20
representatives, acting jointly, shall appoint two members of 21
the board. The appointments shall be made within forty-five days 22
after the commencement of the first regular session of the 23
general assembly in the year in which the appointments are to be 24
made. If any appointment is not so made, the secretary of state, 25
acting in place of the person otherwise required to make the 26
appointment, shall appoint as many qualified members affiliated 27
with the appropriate political party as are necessary. 28
(B)(1) (B) The initial appointees to the board shall serve 29
until the first Monday in February, 1977. Thereafter, terms of 30
office shall be for four years, each term ending on the first 31
Monday in February. The term of the secretary of state on the 32
board shall coincide with the secretary of state's term of 33
office. Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(2) of this 34
section, division (B)(2) of section 3505.063, division (C) of 35
section 3505.064, and division (B)(2) of section 3519.03 of the 36
Revised Code, each appointed member shall hold office from the 37
date of appointment until the end of the term for which the 38
member was appointed. Except as otherwise provided in those 39
divisions, any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring 40
prior to the expiration of the term for which the member's 41
predecessor was appointed shall hold office for the remainder of 42
that term. Except as otherwise provided in those divisions, any 43
member shall continue in office subsequent to the expiration 44
date of the member's term until the member's successor takes 45
office or a period of sixty days has elapsed, whichever occurs 46
first. Any vacancy occurring on the board shall be filled in the 47
manner provided for original appointments. A member appointed to 48
fill a vacancy shall be of the same political party as that 49
required of the member whom the member replaces. 50
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(2) The term of office of a member of the board who also 51
is a member of the general assembly and who was appointed to the 52
board by the president of the senate, the minority leader of the 53
senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, or the 54
minority leader of the house of representatives shall end on the 55
earlier of the following dates: 56
(a) The ending date of the ballot board term for which the 57
member was appointed; 58
(b) The ending date of the member's term as a member of 59
the general assembly. 60
(C) Members of the board shall serve without compensation 61
but shall be reimbursed for expenses actually and necessarily 62
incurred in the performance of their duties. 63
(D) The secretary of state shall be the chairperson of the 64
board, and the secretary of state or the secretary of state's 65
representative shall have a vote equal to that of any other 66
member. The vice-chairperson shall act as chairperson in the 67
absence or disability of the chairperson, or during a vacancy in 68
that office. The board shall meet after (D)(1) The governor 69
shall designate the times and places of the following meetings 70
of the board and shall provide the members of the board with 71
notice of the time and place of a meeting at least seven days at 72
a time and place determined by the chairperson. At its before 73
the day of the meeting: 74
(a) The first meeting of the board that occurs on or after 75
the effective date of this amendment; 76
(b) The first meeting of the board that occurs during a 77
term of office described in division (B) of this section; 78
(c) Any other meeting of the board that occurs while the 79
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As Introduced
board does not have an elected co-chairperson, upon the written 80
request of three members of the board. 81
(2) The secretary of state shall be a co-chairperson of 82
the board. At a meeting called by the governor under division 83
(D)(1)(a) or (b) of this section, the board shall elect a vice- 84
chairperson from among its members for a term of two years a 85
second co-chairperson who is not a member of the same political 86
party as the secretary of state, and it then shall adopt rules 87
for its procedures. After the first meeting, the The elected co- 88
chairperson of the board shall serve a term as co-chairperson 89
that coincides with the person's term of office on the board. If 90
the office of elected co-chairperson becomes vacant, the board 91
shall elect from among its members a co-chairperson who is not a 92
member of the same political party as the secretary of state, to 93
serve the remainder of the unexpired term. 94
(3) The board shall meet at the call of the chairperson or 95
upon the written request of three other members its co- 96
chairpersons, acting jointly. Three The co-chairpersons, acting 97
jointly, shall provide the members of the board with notice of 98
the time and place of the meeting at least seven days before the 99
day of the meeting and shall set the agenda for the meeting. 100
(4) Three members of the board constitute a quorum. No 101
action shall be taken without the concurrence of three members. 102
(E) The secretary of state shall provide technical, 103
professional, and clerical employees as necessary for the board 104
to carry out its duties. 105
Sec. 3505.062. The Ohio ballot board shall do all of the 106
following: 107
(A) Examine, within ten days after its receipt, each 108
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written initiative petition received from the attorney general 109
under section 3519.01 of the Revised Code to determine whether 110
it contains only one proposed law or constitutional amendment so 111
as to enable the voters to vote on a proposal separately. If the 112
board so determines, it shall certify its approval to the 113
attorney general, who then shall file with the secretary of 114
state in accordance with division (A) of section 3519.01 of the 115
Revised Code a verified copy of the proposed law or 116
constitutional amendment together with its summary and the 117
attorney general's certification of it. 118
If the board determines that the initiative petition 119
contains more than one proposed law or constitutional amendment, 120
the board shall divide the initiative petition into individual 121
petitions containing only one proposed law or constitutional 122
amendment so as to enable the voters to vote on each proposal 123
separately and certify its approval to the attorney general. If 124
the board so divides an initiative petition and so certifies its 125
approval to the attorney general, the petitioners shall resubmit 126
to the attorney general appropriate summaries for each of the 127
individual petitions arising from the board's division of the 128
initiative petition, and the attorney general then shall review 129
the resubmissions as provided in division (A) of section 3519.01 130
of the Revised Code. 131
(B) Prescribe the ballot title and ballot language for 132
constitutional amendments proposed by the general assembly to be 133
printed on the statewide ballot questions and issues ballot, 134
which . 135
(1) The ballot title shall give a true and impartial 136
statement of the measure in such language that the ballot title 137
is not likely to create prejudice for or against the measure. 138
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The person or committee promoting the measure may submit a 139
suggested ballot title to the ballot board, to which the ballot 140
board shall give full consideration in determining the ballot 141
title. 142
(2) The ballot language shall properly identify the 143
substance of the proposal to be voted upon;. 144
(C) Prepare an explanation of each constitutional 145
amendment proposed by the general assembly, which explanation 146
may include the purpose and effects of the proposed amendment; 147
(D) Certify the ballot title, ballot language, and 148
explanation, if any, to the secretary of state no later than 149
seventy-five days before the election at which the proposed 150
question or issue is to be submitted to the voters; 151
(E) Prepare, or designate a group of persons to prepare, 152
arguments in support of or in opposition to a constitutional 153
amendment proposed by a resolution of the general assembly, a 154
constitutional amendment or state law proposed by initiative 155
petition, or a state law, or section or item of state law, 156
subject to a referendum petition, if the persons otherwise 157
responsible for the preparation of those arguments fail to 158
timely prepare and file them; 159
(F) Direct the means by which the secretary of state shall 160
disseminate information concerning proposed constitutional 161
amendments, proposed laws, and referenda to the voters; 162
(G) Direct the secretary of state to contract for the 163
publication in a newspaper of general circulation in each county 164
in the state of the ballot language, explanations, and arguments 165
regarding each of the following: 166
(1) A constitutional amendment or law proposed by 167
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initiative petition under Section 1g of Article II of the Ohio 168
Constitution; 169
(2) A law, section, or item of law submitted to the 170
electors by referendum petition under Section 1g of Article II 171
of the Ohio Constitution; 172
(3) A constitutional amendment submitted to the electors 173
by the general assembly under Section 1 of Article XVI of the 174
Ohio Constitution. 175
Sec. 3505.064. (A) As used in this section: 176
(1) "Appointed office" means an appointed federal office 177
or an appointed office of a state agency or political 178
subdivision. 179
(2) "Candidate" means any of the following: 180
(a) A person who is certified to appear on the ballot as a 181
candidate for nomination or election to elected office, who 182
claims to be a write-in candidate for nomination or election to 183
elected office, or who knowingly assents to being represented by 184
another as a write-in candidate for nomination or election to 185
elected office; 186
(b) A person who is certified by the election officials as 187
a candidate for the office of presidential elector or the office 188
of delegate to a national convention or conference of a 189
political party; 190
(c) A person who, at any time before or after an election, 191
receives contributions or makes expenditures or other use of 192
contributions, has given consent for another to receive 193
contributions or make expenditures or other use of 194
contributions, or appoints a campaign treasurer, for the purpose 195
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of bringing about the person's nomination or election to elected 196
office. 197
(3) "Contribution," "expenditure," "legislative campaign 198
fund," and "political action committee" have the same meanings 199
as in section 3517.01 of the Revised Code. 200
(4) "Elected office" means an elected federal or state 201
office, an elected office of a political subdivision, or an 202
elected office of a political party. "Elected office" includes 203
the office of presidential elector and the office of delegate to 204
a national convention or conference of a political party. 205
(5) "Executive agency lobbyist" has the same meaning as in 206
section 121.60 of the Revised Code. 207
(6) "Federal lobbyist" has the same meaning as "lobbyist," 208
as defined in the "Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995," 2 U.S.C. 209
1602. 210
(7) "Federal political committee" has the same meaning as 211
in section 3517.107 of the Revised Code. 212
(8) "Immediate family member" means a person's parent, 213
stepparent, grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling of the whole 214
or half blood, stepsibling, spouse, child, including an adopted 215
child or stepchild, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, parent-in-law, 216
sibling-in-law, or child-in-law. 217
(9) "Legislative agent" has the same meaning as in section 218
101.70 of the Revised Code. 219
(10) "Political subdivision" has the same meaning as in