Laws governing ballot measures in Ohio
From Ballotpedia
This page provides an overview of resources addressing the laws and procedures that govern statewide and local ballot measures in Ohio, including the initiative and referendum process, constitutional amendments, signature requirements, recall procedures, and campaign finance regulations.
Explore the links below for more information:
- Types of ballot measures in Ohio
- Laws governing the initiative process in Ohio
- Amending the Ohio Constitution
- Laws governing local ballot measures in Ohio
- Signature requirements for ballot measures in Ohio
- Laws governing recall in Ohio
- Laws governing state constitutional conventions in Ohio
- Campaign finance requirements for Ohio ballot measures
- Changes to laws governing ballot measures in Ohio
Laws governing ballot measures in Ohio
Types of ballot measures in Ohio
- Ohio has three types of citizen-initiated ballot measures: initiated constitutional amendments, indirect initiated state statutes, and veto referendums.
- In Ohio the legislature can refer constitutional amendments and state statutes to the ballot.
Laws governing the initiative process in Ohio
- In Ohio, citizens have the power to initiate state statutes or constitutional amendments, as well as the power to repeal legislation through veto referendums.
- In 1912, voters approved a constitutional amendment to allow for the initiative and referendum process.
- From 1985 to 2024, voters in Ohio decided 26 citizen-initiated measures and three veto referendums.
Amending the Ohio Constitution
- Ohio became a state in 1803. The current state constitution was ratified in 1851.
- The Ohio Constitution can be amended in three ways:
- Legislatively referred constitutional amendment: According to Article XVI, the state Legislature can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot for voters to decide. A 60% vote is required during one legislative session for the Ohio State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
- Initiated constitutional amendment: According to Section 1a of Article II, citizens have the power to initiate constitutional amendments in Ohio.
- Convention-referred constitutional amendment: According to Section 3 of Article XVI of the Ohio Constitution, a question about whether to hold a state constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 20 years starting in 1932. Ohio is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question.
Laws governing local ballot measures in Ohio
- Authority for initiative and referendum regarding ordinances in general law cities is given in ORC 731.28.
- Authority for initiative and referendum regarding resolutions in limited home rule townships is given in ORC 504.14.
- Authority for home rule charter amendment is given in the Ohio Constitution Article 18.07.
Signature requirements for ballot measures in Ohio
- initiated constitutional amendment (ICA): 10 percent of the votes cast for governor
- direct initiated state statute (ISS): 6 percent of the votes cast for governor
- indirect initiated state statute (IISS): 3 percent of the votes cast for governor
- veto referendum (VR): 6 percent of the votes cast for governor
- Only local officials, other than school board members, are subject to recall in Ohio.
- In Ohio, there is no right of statewide recall and no ability to recall members of the Ohio State Legislature.
Laws governing state constitutional conventions in Ohio
- According to Section 3 of Article XVI of the Ohio Constitution, a question about whether to hold a state constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 20 years starting in 1932. Ohio is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question.
Campaign finance requirements for Ohio ballot measures
- In Ohio, "a ballot issue committee is a political action committee that is organized to support or oppose a proposed or certified ballot issue or question." Before the committee can accept contributions or make expenditures, it must file a registration form (Form 30-D, Designation of Treasurer). If the committee supports or opposes a statewide ballot measure, this form must be filed with the Ohio Secretary of State.
- Under Ohio state law, "ballot issue committees are not subject to contribution limits.
Changes to laws governing ballot measures in Ohio
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
- House Bill 129: The bill changed the type of certain school district property taxes that local ballot measures may address. Previously, school districts could place emergency and substitute levies on the ballot, which were based on millage rates. The bill eliminated those levy types and instead authorized fixed-sum levies, under which voters approve a specific total revenue amount to be raised for up to 5 years.[1]
| HB 129 Vote | Senate | House | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | NV | Yes | No | NV | |
| Total | 23 | 10 | 0 | 81 | 8 | 0 |
| Democratic (D) | 0 | 9 | 0 | 19 | 8 | 0 |
| Republican (R) | 23 | 1 | 0 | 62 | 0 | 0 |
See also
Ballotpedia
Footnotes
- ↑ Ohio State Legislature, "House Bill 129," accessed December 22, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ohio State Legislature, "House Bill 1," accessed June 4, 2024 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "legbill" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Ohio State Legislature, "Senate Joint Resolution 2," accessed May 16, 2023
- ↑ The Columbus Dispatch, "Senate President Matt Huffman backs GOP plan to make it harder to amend Ohio constitution," December 1, 2023
- ↑ The Columbus Dispatch, "Ohio to hold August election on proposal to make it harder to amend constitution," May 10, 2023
- ↑ Ohio State Legislature, "House Bill 140," accessed June 14, 2023
- ↑ Ohio State Legislature, "House Concurrent Resolution 7," accessed June 27, 2023
