CINCINNATI — Cincinnati residents will get to consider a new amendment to the city charter at the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Issue 23, which was introduced by councilmember Liz Keating, covers multiple topics and will be on ballots for city of Cincinnati residents.
The issue would mainly change the city charter to make new rules for how a person can add their amendment to the ballot. The issue also addresses multiple other smaller measures.
Currently, Cincinnati doesn't have any rules for proposing a charter amendment.
Keating said this amendment has been in the works for at least two years.
She also told WXVU that this is "the least controversial issue on the ballot this year."
"We talked to all three parties — Republicans, Democrats and Charter — to make sure that we had all questions answered and make sure we were transparent in what we were trying to do," Keating told WVXU.
Here are the multiple elements of Issue 23:
Charter amendments, ballot initiatives and petitions:
If passed, the ballot measure would mirror Ohio state law.
This would mean a copy of any initiative, referendum or charter amendment petition has to be filed with the Clerk of Council before any signatures can be collected. These would be filed publicly so anyone could see what proposed amendments are circulating.
If passed, the amendment would also limit citizen-led ballot measures to one proposal.
Ballot measures alongside mayoral and city council candidates would also get a "cure period" if the amendment is passed. This would allow candidates or petitioners to collect more signatures for those submitted without enough valid signatures, as long as those added signatures are submitted by a deadline.
Currently, if a petition doesn't have enough signatures, petitioners have to start from scratch.
If passed, the charter amendment would also specify that candidate petition circulators would have to sign a statement rather than just having their notarized affidavit alongside their petitions.
City council voting:
Currently, the city interprets the charter's "yay or nay" requirement for city council as meaning a vocal vote is needed. If passed, the measure would give city council permission to submit votes electronically instead of only by voice.
The amendment doesn't give a specific way councilmembers would do this, but simply offers the option.
"It doesn't mean that we could vote remotely ... all this does is just allow us to push a button that could do a green light [or] red light or put our name on a board under yes or no," Keating told WXVU. "There's many different ways to do this."
Special elections:
The amendment would also modify what would happen if a mayor would leave early enough in their term to trigger a special election.
Currently, candidates must submit petitions at least 50 days before a special election. On top of that, Ohio law says that Hamilton County Board of Election has to mail ballots to overseas voters at least 46 days before the election. Because of this, that leaves only four days for the board of elections to certify signatures and determine whether a candidate is approved to be on the ballot.
If Issue 23 passes, that 50 day threshold would be pushed back to 60 days, which would allow the board of elections 10 full days to certify signatures.
City Council terms:
In 2018, a charter amendment passed, which shortened Cincinnati council terms from four years to two years.
Since then, not all relevant portions of the charter have been updated, and this would clarify throughout the charter that council terms are two years.
If Issue 23 does not pass, there will be no changes to Cincinnati's city charter.
To see exactly what Issue 23 will appear like on your ballot, click here.
