"Once more unto the breach, dear friends" -Henry V
OK, so let's review... Ohio state government has been hijacked by a bunch of Machiavellian neocon boobs that make the crowd in Wisconsin look like pikers. First, they tried to strip away virtually ALL rights of public employees to negotiate as Senate Bill 5 (SB5.) The result? 1,298,301 confirmed, registered Ohio voters signed petitions to put the matter to a referendum, which also, forestalls it from taking effect until after the vote, which will be this fall as a NO vote on State Issue Two.
Then, the forces of evil, passed a voter suppression bill as House Bill 194 (HB 194.) So far, progressive forces have submitted more than 318,000 signatures, a third more than the 231,147 needed to place a referendum on the fall 2012 ballot. Again, it's provisions are forestalled until after the vote.
AND THEN the GOP rammed through the most egregious Congressional redistricting map imaginable. And this time the forces of repression tried to prevent it from being subject to referendum by attaching an immaterial funding provision, because the state constitution doesn't allow for referendums on spending issues.
But in no time at all, ODP and progressive forces were able to gather enough signatures to put the measure on the ballot and forestall it's implementation. "Slick Johnny" Husted, the GOP SoS, dutifully played his part by refusing to accept the petitions for certification, citing the frivolous funding issue.
BUT WAIT-
Tonight the Ohio State Supremes have ruled unanimously that Husted must accept the petitions and begin the process of checking the signatures to make certain that enough properly registered voters have signed!
Now as with all petition drives, a percentage of the signatures will be found to be invalid for one reason or another. Local county boards of elections will have to go through and check each one. And the one thing that I have not seen, is any sort of tally as to how many petitions were signed.
And I am assuming that the number required will be 231,147 (6% of the total vote cast statewide for governor) in the 2010 election. There are also requirements that the signatures cover a wide range of counties.
More to follow...