Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 307
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 307.95 (2026)

Determining validity of petitions

✓ current as of May 2026
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Effective:
April 6, 2017
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 463 - 131st General Assembly
PDF:
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(A) When a county charter petition has been certified to the board of elections pursuant to section 307.94 of the Revised Code, the board shall immediately proceed to determine whether the petition and the signatures on the petition meet the requirements of law, including section 3501.38 of the Revised Code, and to count the number of valid signatures. The board shall note opposite each invalid signature the reason for the invalidity. The board shall complete its examination of the petition and the signatures not later than ten days after receipt of the petition certified by the board of county commissioners and shall submit a report to the board of county commissioners not less than one hundred days before the election certifying whether the petition is valid or invalid and, if invalid, the reasons for the invalidity, whether there are sufficient valid signatures, and the number of valid and invalid signatures. The petition and a copy of the report to the board of county commissioners shall be available for public inspection at the board of elections. If the petition is determined by the board of elections to be valid but the number of valid signatures is insufficient, the board of county commissioners shall immediately notify the committee for the petitioners, who may solicit and file additional signatures to the petition pursuant to division (E) of this section or protest the board of election's findings pursuant to division (B) of this section, or both.

(B) Protests against the findings of the board of elections concerning the validity or invalidity of a county charter petition or any signature on such petition may be filed by any elector eligible to vote at the next general election with the board of elections not later than four p.m. of the ninety-seventh day before the election. Each protest shall identify the part of, or omission from, the petition or the signature or signatures to which the protest is directed, and shall set forth specifically the reason for the protest. A protest must be in writing, signed by the elector making the protest, and shall include the protestor's address. Each protest shall be filed in duplicate.

(C) The board of elections shall deliver or mail by certified mail one copy of each protest filed with it to the secretary of state. The secretary of state, within ten days after receipt of the protests, shall determine the sufficiency or insufficiency of the signatures and the validity or invalidity of the petition, including whether the petition conforms to the requirements set forth in Section 3 of Article X and Section 3 of Article XVIII of the Ohio Constitution, including the exercise of only those powers that have vested in, and the performance of all duties imposed upon counties and county offices by law, and whether the petition satisfies the statutory prerequisites to place the issue on the ballot. The petition shall be invalid if any portion of the petition is not within the initiative power. The secretary of state may determine whether to permit matters not raised by protest to be considered in determining such validity or invalidity or sufficiency or insufficiency, and may conduct hearings, either in Columbus or in the county where the county charter petition is filed. The determination by the secretary of state is final.

(D) The secretary of state shall notify the board of elections of the determination made under division (C) of this section not later than four p.m. of the eighty-first day before the election. If the petition is determined to be valid and to contain sufficient valid signatures, the charter shall be placed on the ballot at the next general election. If the petition is determined to be invalid, the secretary of state shall so notify the board of county commissioners and the board of county commissioners shall notify the committee. If the petition is determined by the secretary of state to be valid but the number of valid signatures is insufficient, the board of elections shall immediately notify the committee for the petitioners and the committee shall be allowed ten additional days after such notification to solicit and file additional signatures to the petition subject to division (E) of this section.

(E) All additional signatures solicited pursuant to division (A) or (D) of this section shall be filed with the board of elections not less than seventy days before the election. The board of elections shall examine and determine the validity or invalidity of the additional separate petition papers and of the signatures thereon, and its determination is final. No valid signature on an additional separate petition paper that is the same as a valid signature on an original separate petition paper shall be counted. The number of valid signatures on the original separate petition papers and the additional separate petition papers shall be added together to determine whether there are sufficient valid signatures. If the number of valid signatures is sufficient and the additional separate petition papers otherwise valid, the charter shall be placed on the ballot at the next general election. If not, the board of elections shall notify the county commissioners, and the commissioners shall notify the committee.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2015–2021 · leading case: State ex rel. Flak v. Betras (Slip Opinion), 2017 Ohio 8109 (Ohio 2017).
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State ex rel. Flak v. Betras (Slip Opinion), 2017 Ohio 8109 (Ohio 2017). · cites it 10× “By contrast, in McGinn, there was at least an argument that the relators had two available remedies: they could 9 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO have filed a protest pursuant to R.C. 307.95, or they could have sought an adjudication of the petitions’ validity from the common pleas court,…”
The State Ex Rel. Walker Et Al. v. Husted, 2015 Ohio 3749 (Ohio 2015). · cites it 7× “The case therefore requires us to determine the scope of Husted’s reviewing authority under R.C. 307.95(C). The scope of the secretary’s authority {¶ 9} When a protest is made against a petition proposing the adoption of a county charter, the board of elections must deliver a…”
State ex rel. Jones v. Husted (Slip Opinion), 2016 Ohio 5681 (Ohio 2016). · cites it 6× “Relators then had two statutory procedures through which they could have challenged the board’s decision: (1) a protest of the board’s decision before the secretary of state under R.C. 307.95 or (2) a request that the board bring an action in the common pleas court to establish…”
State ex rel. Coover v. Husted (Slip Opinion), 2016 Ohio 5794 (Ohio 2016). · cites it 2× “Relators filed a timely protest of each of these decisions pursuant to R.C. 307.95(B). On August 15, 2016, Secretary Husted issued a single decision denying all three protests and instructing the boards not to place the proposed charters on the ballot.”
State ex rel. McGinn v. Walker (Slip Opinion), 2017 Ohio 7714 (Ohio 2017). · cites it 3× “Both procedures provide an expedited timeline for resolution. {¶ 29} Here, relators chose to proceed by way of actions in common pleas court.”
State ex rel. Meigs Cty. Home Rule Commt. v. Meigs Co. Bd. of Commrs., 2015 Ohio 3701 (Ohio Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 7× “{¶14} A board of elections examination of the petition is governed by R.C. 307.95, which specifically incorporates R.”
State ex rel. Fleming v. Fox (Slip Opinion), 2019 Ohio 3555 (Ohio 2019). · cites it 4× “95 of the Revised Code * * *, or request that the board of elections proceed to establish the validity or invalidity of the petition * * * in an action before the court of common pleas in the county.”
Beiersdorfer v. LaRose (N.D. Ohio 2020). · cites it 5× “; O.R.C. § 307.95(A). “The petition shall be invalid if any portion of the petition is not within the initiative power.”
Susan Beiersdorfer v. Frank LaRose (6th Cir. 2021). · cites it 2× “Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 307.95 . If the secretary agrees4 with the board’s decision invalidating the proposed initiative, the proponent can seek a writ of mandamus from the Ohio Supreme Court to compel placement of the charter on the ballot.”
Beiersdorfer v. LaRose (N.D. Ohio 2019). “at § 307.95(B)-(C). The secretary of state must “determine .”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 307.95(A) — 1 case
Beiersdorfer v. LaRose (N.D. Ohio 2020). “; O.R.C. § 307.95(A). “The petition shall be invalid if any portion of the petition is not within the initiative power.”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 307.95(B) — 5 cases
State ex rel. Flak v. Betras (Slip Opinion), 2017 Ohio 8109 (Ohio 2017). “By contrast, in McGinn, there was at least an argument that the relators had two available remedies: they could 9 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO have filed a protest pursuant to R.C. 307.95, or they could have sought an adjudication of the petitions’ validity from the common pleas court,…”
State ex rel. Coover v. Husted (Slip Opinion), 2016 Ohio 5794 (Ohio 2016). “Relators filed a timely protest of each of these decisions pursuant to R.C. 307.95(B). On August 15, 2016, Secretary Husted issued a single decision denying all three protests and instructing the boards not to place the proposed charters on the ballot.”
State ex rel. Fleming v. Fox (Slip Opinion), 2019 Ohio 3555 (Ohio 2019). “95 of the Revised Code * * *, or request that the board of elections proceed to establish the validity or invalidity of the petition * * * in an action before the court of common pleas in the county.”
Beiersdorfer v. LaRose (N.D. Ohio 2019). “at § 307.95(B)-(C). The secretary of state must “determine .”
Beiersdorfer v. LaRose (N.D. Ohio 2020). “; O.R.C. § 307.95(A). “The petition shall be invalid if any portion of the petition is not within the initiative power.”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 307.95(C) — 1 case
The State Ex Rel. Walker Et Al. v. Husted, 2015 Ohio 3749 (Ohio 2015). “The case therefore requires us to determine the scope of Husted’s reviewing authority under R.C. 307.95(C). The scope of the secretary’s authority {¶ 9} When a protest is made against a petition proposing the adoption of a county charter, the board of elections must deliver a…”
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