State, Ex Rel. v. Myers

• Decision Date: 12 July 1933
• Docket Number: 24290,24289
• Citation: 127 Ohio St. 95,186 N.E. 872
• Parties: The State, Ex Rel. Patton, v. Myers, Secy. Of State. Two Cases.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

186 N.E. 872

127 Ohio St. 95

The State, Ex Rel. Patton, v. Myers, Secy. Of State. Two Cases.

Nos. 24289 , 24290

Supreme Court of Ohio

July 12, 1933

Initiative and referendum - Petition signer to personally sign name in ink - Date and residence may be written by another person - Two or more laws cannot be submitted in single referendum petition - Sections 1g and 1c, Article II, Constitution.

1. Under Article II, Section 1g, of the Ohio Constitution, a signer of any initiative, supplementary or referendum petition must personally sign his own name to such petition in ink, but some other person, under the authority and direction of the signer, may write on the petition, after the signer's name, the date of sighing and the signer's place of residence, as required by that section.

2. Under Article II, Section 1c, of the Ohio Constitution, a single referendum petition may not be filed attacking two or more separate and distinct laws passed by the General Assembly. (State, ex rel. Hubbell, v. Bettman, Atty. Genl. 124 Ohio St. 24, distinguished.)

IN PROHIBITION. IN MANDAMUS.

The facts are stated in the Opinion.

Mr Robert N. Gorman, for relator.

Mr John W. Bricker, attorney general, and Mr. William S. Evatt for respondent.

ALLEN J.

In case No. 24290 the relator prays for a writ of mandamus seeking to compel the respondent to direct the boards of elections of the eighty-eight counties that signers of referendum petitions must personally fill in their residences, wards, townships or precincts on such referendum petitions. In case No. 24289 the relator prays for a writ of prohibition to restrain the respondent as secretary of state and chief election officer of the state from taking any steps toward placing House Bills Nos. 270 and 271, passed by the Ninetieth General Assembly, on the ballot at the election in November, 1933, for a referendum election thereon, upon the ground that such referendum petitions are insufficient in law in that two separate enactments were placed on the same petition contrary to the provisions of Article II, Section 1c, and other sections of the Constitution of Ohio. A demurrer has been filed to each petition.

While there are certain statutory provisions governing the requirements for signatures to referendum petitions, the controversy in case No. 24290 is controlled by Article II, Section 1g, of the Constitution of Ohio, the pertinent portions of which are as follows:

"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 and 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."

These provisions seem to the majority of the court conclusive. They require the names of all signers to be written in ink "each signer for himself," and hence signify that the name can be signed by no one except the elector sponsoring the petition. With reference to the township and the county, the municipality the street number, the ward and precinct, Section 1g sim- ply requires that the signer shall "state" or "place" on the petition this information. This "stating" or "placing" is sharply distinguished both in word and in meaning from the signing of the name by "each signer...