COLUMBUS – Each side is claiming a partial victory in a court skirmish over a proposal to legalize marijuana in Ohio.
The state Supreme Court says part of the ballot wording describing the constitutional amendment is misleading and has ordered a state board to rewrite it.
“Ballot language must be neutral and fair, and today’s ruling is a slap to the Secretary of State for waging a political campaign from his elected office, using taxpayer dollars,” said Ian James, executive director of ResponsibleOhio, the group supporting the issue.
The high court sided with ResponsibleOhio and ordered the state’s Ballot Board to reconvene and replace sections about where retail stores can open, the amount of marijuana the initiative allows and the mechanism for adding growing facilities.
But, the justices also ruled in favor of the state’s top elections official by saying that the title of ballot Issue 3 is not inaccurate, confusing, argumentative, or persuasive.
“Today, the Ohio Supreme Court agreed with me, the dictionary, common sense and many news publications across our state that State Issue 3 would create a marijuana monopoly in Ohio and that the voters deserve to be given that information before casting their ballots,” Secretary of State Jon Husted said in a release from his office.
ResponsibleOhio had challenged the phrasing that was set to appear before voters in the Nov. 3 election as inaccurate and deliberately misleading while attorneys for Husted’s office had argued the nearly 500-word ballot language was fair.