![\"Attorney](\"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Mike-DeWine-headshot-200px-6-2014.jpg\")
<\/a>On June 24, the Attorney General\u2019s Office received a written petition for an initiated statute, entitled \u201cFresh Start Act,\u201d from the group Responsible Ohio.\u00a0The submission was certified Monday as containing both the necessary 1,000 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters and a \u201cfair and truthful\u201d summary of the proposed law.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout passing upon the advisability of the approval or rejection of the measure to be referred,\u2026 I hereby certify that the summary is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed law,\u201d Ohio Attorney Mike General DeWine stated in his certification letter.<\/p>\n
Once the summary language and initial signatures are certified, the Ohio Ballot Board must determine if the proposal contains a single law or multiple laws.\u00a0The petitioners must then collect signatures for each proposed law from registered voters in each of 44 of Ohio\u2019s 88 counties, equal to 1.5 percent of the total vote cast in the county for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election.<\/p>\n
Total signatures collected statewide must also equal 3 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election. Once signatures are verified by the Ohio Secretary of State, the Ohio General Assembly has four months to act upon the proposed law. If the proposal is not passed, the petitioners have an opportunity to gather the same number of signatures to have the proposal placed on the ballot.<\/p>\n