Former Provisions of the Constitution of the State of Ohio, 1851 Former Art. II, § 1g

Any initiative, supplementary or referendum petition may be presented in separate parts but each part shall contain a full and correct copy of the title, and text of the law, section or item thereof sought to be referred, or the proposed law or proposed amendment to the constitution.  Each signer of any initiative, supplementary or referendum petition must be an elector of the state and shall place on such petition after his name the date of signing and his place of residence.  A signer residing outside of a municipality shall state the township and county in which he resides.  A resident of a municipality shall state in addition to the name of such municipality, the street number, if any, of his residence and the ward and precinct in which the same is located.  The names of all signers to such petitions shall be written in ink, each signer for himself.  To each part of such petition shall be attached the affidavit of the person soliciting the signatures to the same, which affidavit shall contain a statement of the number of the signers of such part of such petition and shall state that each of the signatures attached to such part was made in the presence of the affiant, that to the best of his knowledge and belief each signature on such part is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be, that he believes the persons who have signed it to be electors, that they so signed said petition with knowledge of the contents thereof, that each signer signed the same on the date stated opposite his name;  and no other affidavit thereto shall be required.  The petition and signatures upon such petitions, so verified, shall be presumed to be in all respects sufficient, unless not later than forty days before the election, it shall be otherwise proved and in such event ten additional days shall be allowed for the filing of additional signatures to such petition.  No law or amendment to the constitution submitted to the electors by initiative and supplementary petition and receiving an affirmative majority of the votes cast thereon, shall be held unconstitutional or void on account of the insufficiency of the petitions by which such submission of the same was procured;  nor shall the rejection of any law submitted by referendum petition be held invalid for such insufficiency.  Upon all initiative, supplementary and referendum petitions provided for in any of the sections of this article, it shall be necessary to file from each of one-half of the counties of the state, petitions bearing the signatures of not less than one-half of the designated percentage of the electors of such county.  A true copy of all laws or proposed laws or proposed amendments to the constitution, together, with an argument or explanation, or both, for, and also an argument or explanation, or both, against the same, shall be prepared.  The person or persons who prepare the argument or explanation, or both, against any law, section or item, submitted to the electors, by referendum petition, may be named in such petition and the persons who prepare the argument or explanation, or both, for any proposed law or proposed amendment to the constitution may be named in the petition proposing the same.  The person or persons who prepare the argument or explanation, or both, for the law, section, or item, submitted to the electors by referendum petition, or against any proposed law submitted by supplementary petition, shall be named by the general assembly, if in session, and if not in session then by the governor.  The secretary of state shall cause to be printed the law, or proposed law, or proposed amendment to the constitution, together with the arguments and explanation not exceeding a total of three hundred words for each, and also the arguments and explanations, not exceeding a total of three hundred words against each, and shall mail, or otherwise distribute, a copy of such law, or proposed law, or proposed amendment to the constitution, together with such arguments and explanations for and against the same to each of the electors of the state, as far as may be reasonably possible.  Unless otherwise provided by law, the secretary of state shall cause to be placed upon the ballots, the title of any such law, or proposed law, or proposed amendment to the constitution, to be submitted.  He shall also cause the ballots so to be printed as to permit an affirmative or negative vote upon each law, section of law, or item in a law appropriating money, or proposed law or proposed amendment to the constitution.  The style of all laws submitted by initiative and supplementary petition shall be:  “Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Ohio,” and of all constitutional amendments:  “Be It Resolved by the People of the State of Ohio.”  The basis upon which the required number of petitioners in any case shall be determined shall be the total number of votes cast for the office of governor at the last preceding election therefor.  The foregoing provisions of this section shall be self-executing, except as herein otherwise provided.  Laws may be passed to facilitate their operation, but in no way limiting or restricting either such provision or the powers herein reserved.