Do’s and Don’ts
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DO explain to every potential signer what the Amendment is, why it is important and what it will do for Ohio. Give your signers plenty of time to read the Amendment’s summary and full text.
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DO have everyone sign in either black or blue ink.
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DO make sure all signatures and accompanying information are legible.
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DO make sure your signatures are valid by checking the names on the Ohio Secretary of State’s website.
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DO be pleasant, polite, upbeat and cooperative with potential signers. Have fun. Circulating a petition is a great way to meet people and introduce them to this important issue. Remember, when circulating a petition, you are representing the ORG and the cannabis issue in general. You are an ambassador, so please look and act the part.
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DO NOT sign for or allow anyone else sign for a signor. Only that person may sign his or her signature in the signature block. However, there are provisions that allow someone else to sign for a handicapped person provided that signor has power of attorney and proof thereof. A handicapped person may also sign just their name. Under these circumstances, you may then fill out the rest of the information in the signature box for them.
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DO NOT alter, erase or add notes to the signature boxes on your petition. Mistakes should be crossed out with a simple line.
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DO NOT sign your own petition. Remember, you are witnessing the signature of others. You cannot witness your own signature, so don’t sign your own petition. Instead, sign a colleague’s petition.
Signature Gathering Instructions
The Ohio Rights Group is asking all of those interested in gathering signatures to put medical marijuana on the statewide ballot in the fall to please collect for the Ohioans for Medical Marijuana (OMM) petition, sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).
Anyone who signs up on the ORG's website will be directed to OMM. You can also sign up at the OMM website HERE. Tell them the ORG sent you!
To learn more about the OMM amendment, please visit the Ballot Issue section of our website.
Because we are experts in gathering signatures for constitutional amendments as a result of our Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment (OCRA), we thought our instructions might be generally useful. These instructions apply to all proposed constitutional amendments in Ohio.
It is very important that you carefully follow all instructions, whether ours, OMM's or the Secretary of State's.
IMPORTANT
Steps for filling out the Circulator Statement
Other than the individual signatures, this may be the most important part of your petition. Please carefully read instructions before filling out this statement. If you have any questions whatsoever, please ask an OMM representative.
1.) Print your name. After “I” print your entire name, first and last.
2.) Fill in the number of signatures on your petition. This is tricky. Count ALL of the signatures on your petition no matter how many or how few. Count as a signature any box with a line through it or any box that has something entered into it. Do not count blank boxes. The logic here is that anything in a signature box is a signature until the Ohio Secretary of State determines that it is not. Input that number in the line preceding “electors.”
Example: Your petition contains 33 filled in signature boxes, but one box has a line through it and another has a squiggle where someone started to sign, but then decided not to. Write the number 33 on the line.
3.) Leave the line before “(Name and address of Employer)” blank unless you have been told otherwise by an authorized representative of OMM.
4.) Sign the statement after “(signed)”. Remember, when you sign on this line, you are legally stating that you personally witnessed all of the signatures on your petition.
5.) Write in your permanent address. Generally speaking, this will be the address at which you are registered to vote.
Everyone who signs a petition must
be registered to vote in Ohio.
Are you?
Check your voter registration right now on the website of the Ohio Secretary of State HERE.