Ohio Secretary of State
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The Ohio Secretary of State is responsible for overseeing Ohio elections; authorizing corporations to do business in Ohio; serving on the state's Appointment Boards; documenting secured commercial transactions; and providing public access to documents.
The current officeholder is Jennifer Brunner.
Chief election officer
The Ohio secretary of state serves as the state's chief election officer. In this capacity, the secretary of state:
- Oversees the elections process
- Appoints the members of boards of elections in each of Ohio`s 88 counties.
- Supervises the administration of election laws
- Approves ballot language
- Reviews statewide initiative and referendum petitions
- Chairs the Ohio Ballot Board, which approves ballot language for statewide issues
- Canvasses votes for all elective state offices and issues
- Investigates election fraud and irregularities
- Trains election officials
- Reimburses counties for poll worker training costs.
Elections Division
The Elections Division of the secretary of state's office compiles and maintains election statistics, political party records and other election-related records. Statewide candidates` campaign finance reports are filed with the office, together with the reports for state political action committees (PACs), state political parties and legislative caucus campaign committees.
All laws passed by the Ohio General Assembly, municipal charters, administrative rules adopted by agencies, and all executive orders issued by the governor are filed with this office, as well.
Role in the initiative process
First the initiative must be approved by the state attorney general. When it has been given a ballot title, the circulator submits Form 15 to the secretary of state prior to circulating petition if an entity or an individual is being compensated for supervising, managing or otherwise organizing any effort to obtain signatures.
Signature submission
When all the signatures are collected they must be verified. The secretary of state may not accept for filing any initiative petition which does not contain at least the minimum number of signatures required.
The secretary of state then validates the signatures by county and elector requirements. Signatures may not be withdrawn after part-petitions have been filed.
The petition must be filed with the Secretary of State not less than ten (10) days prior to commencement of any session of the General Assembly (which begin on the first Monday in January).
Filing must be accompanied by a twenty-five dollar ($25.00) filing fee. The secretary of state transmits the proposal to the General Assembly as soon as it convenes.
Ballot access lawsuits
The Ohio secretary of state also is by law the named plaintiff in lawsuits against Ohio's election laws. In recent years, Secretaries Jennifer Brunner and Ken Blackwell in their official capacity have been named in these lawsuits:
Contact information
Office of the Ohio Secretary of State
180 East Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone:877-767-6446 or 614-466-2655
See also
- Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner
- Ohio Governor
- Ohio Lieutenant Governor
- Ohio Attorney General
External links
- Office of the Ohio Secretary of State
- Duties and Responsibilities of the Ohio Secretary of State
- Ohio Ballot Board
- Ohio Elections and ballot issues
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