FAQs
Are you amending SB 1?
No. A referendum is a process to stay a law recently enacted by the General Assembly until the law itself can be submitted to the voters for approval or rejection at a general election.
While the legislation was signed, there is a 90 day window from when the measure is filed with the Secretary of State to when it is enacted. It is during this time period that a referendum petition can be filed and the legislation be stayed (paused). If the petition is successful, SB 1 will go to a vote in November 2025.
In 2011, a coalition of groups led a state referendum on Senate Bill 5. That bill, too, sought to destroy workers’ rights.
Who is behind this state referendum effort?
The petitioners’ committee is composed of three people: Amanda Fehlbaum, Cryshanna Jackson Leftwich, and Mark Vopat. They are all members of YSU-OEA.
We started a Ballot Issue PAC – Labor, Education, and Diversity Ohio – after submitting the first 1000+ signatures.
Are you being paid to bring forward this referendum petition?
No. The printing of the initial petitions and even this website have been paid for using personal funds at this point.
This is 100% grassroots effort.
We, as professors, are not offering extra credit to students to collect signatures on our behalf or to sign. We resent the implication that we would do such a thing and Senator Cirino should be ashamed for suggesting it.
After establishing the Ballot Issue PAC and opening a bank account, we started fundraising for the printing of petitions. Additional funds will go toward purchase of banker boxes, pens, clipboards, potential legal fees, etc. We do not foresee having enough funds to afford paid petitioners.
You need 1000+ signatures to get the petition off the ground. Then what?
The referendum process is outlined here.
After the 1000+ signatures of registered Ohio voters have been collected on the initial petition, they will be submitted to the Ohio Secretary of State and the Ohio Attorney General. They will have 10 business days to verify that the summary used in the petition is a fair and truthful statement of the law (SB 1).
Once that is approved, the real work begins: collecting signatures from across the state on the actual referendum petition.
There are a few requirements:
- The total number of signatures on the petitions must equal at least 6 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election. The Secretary of State may not accept any petition for filing which does not purport to contain the minimum number of required signatures.
- The signatures must have been obtained from at least 44 of the 88 counties in Ohio. From each of these 44 counties, there must be signatures equal to at least 3 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor in that county at the last gubernatorial election.
- One county per petition. That is, folks from Mahoning County cannot sign the same petition that folks from Cuyahoga County signed, and so on.
All of these signatures must be collected and submitted within 90 days of SB 1 being filed with the Secretary of State. That is roughly around June 25, 2025.
Once the petition signatures have been verified and all the signatures cleared (its own process), then the Secretary of State refers the referendum to the Ballot Board. The Ballot Board determines the language that will appear on the Ballot by August 21, 2025.
Both sides will be able to produce arguments/explanations for why they think SB 1 should or should not be enacted.
The law will then be put up to the voters on November 4, 2025.
If I sign the petition for the first submission (1000+), can I sign the petition again?
YES. Please do! The 1000+ signatures are for the “summary” petition. It is the “unofficial” petition to get the language approved by the Attorney General. After the Attorney General approves and certifies the petition, we will push for 250K+ signatures.
How many signatures did you collect in the initial summary submission?
We had estimated over 4,500 signatures. The actual number, per the Secretary of State, was 6,253 across 423 part-petitions.
Did you get certified?
YES! On May 5, we received official certification from the Attorney General and Secretary of State. We are now cleared to start collecting the 250K+ signatures statewide.
How can my organization endorse this campaign?
We appreciate your support and consideration! A person authorized to make the endorsement should fill out this form.
OH SB 1 Petition 