COLUMBUS, Ohio —Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine certified two petitions Monday for proposed amendments to the Ohio Constitution. The unrelated proposals regard the issuance of bonds for energy initiatives and new restrictions for members and employees of the Ohio General Assembly.

On March 4th, the Attorney General’s Office received a written petition to amend the Ohio Constitution, entitled “The Ohio Clean Energy Initiative,” the sixth such submission under that title. The submission was certified today as containing both the necessary 1,000 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters and a “fair and truthful” summary of the proposed amendment.

Also on March 4th, the Attorney General’s Office received a written petition to amend the Ohio Constitution, entitled “The Ohio Ethics First Amendment,” from the group Ethics First – You Decide Ohio Committee. The submission was certified today as containing both the necessary 1,000 valid signatures from registered Ohio voters and a “fair and truthful” summary of the proposed amendment.

“Without passing upon the advisability of the approval or rejection of the measure to be referred,…I hereby certify that the summary is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed law,” Ohio Attorney Mike General DeWine stated in his certification letters.

Once the summary language and initial signatures are certified, the Ohio Ballot Board must determine if the amendment contains a single issue or multiple issues. The petitioners must then collect signatures for each issue from registered voters in each of 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, equal to 5 percent of the total vote cast in the county for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election. Total signatures collected statewide must also equal 10 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election.

The full text of the letter and of the amendment petitions submitted can be found at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/Petitions.