Editor's Note: This is the million-dollar question on everyone's mind, and while this article doesn't necessarily provide an answer one way or another, it's clear that ResponsibleOhio is moving forward and has submitted the additional required signatures. The county boards of election will determine the validity of those signatures by next week.
An Ohio political action group has gone ahead with plans to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to legalize marijuana amid investigation for fraud. The group was forced to scramble for more signatures after Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted named a special investigator Wednesday to review what he said were discrepancies in ResponsibleOhio's petitions.
There was a disparity between the number of petitions and signatures ResponsibleOhio claimed to collect and the number the group actually submitted. Husted’s office said the group submitted 660,190 signatures, of which only 276,082 were deemed valid by county boards of election, according to the Ohio newspaper Columbus Sun Times. The petition needs 305,591 signatures to make the ballot.
Some of the initial signatures were not considered because the signer was either not registered to vote, gave false information or did not fill out all of the necessary information.
