By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The campaign to collect the 413,000 signatures to place an item on the November ballot calling for the state constitution to protect abortion rights is just getting into gear.
On Monday the Ballot Commission gave supporters the go-ahead to collect signatures, and Attorney General Dave Yost certified the measure.
Sam Melendez, the regional field director for Protect Choice Ohio, was at BGSU talking to a meeting organized by Wood County Young Democrats. The focus was the signature gathering process.
“The Wood County Democrats… asked me to come talk about my work with Protect Choice Ohio and get the reproductive freedom initiative on the ballot this year,” he said.
Melendez said the 413,000 signatures need to be gathered by July 5. He said the drive is aiming to collect almost twice that many.
“This issue has really invigorated people,” he said. “My phone’s been blowing up for the last month I’ve been involved in this campaign. People are really ready to get involved.”
A certain number of signatures must be gathered in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties. In each county, the number of signatures must equal 5 percent of the votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election.
The petitions are very specific in terms of what needs to be included. They must be properly dated. And the sheets must have only signatures from one county, or the entire sheet can be discarded.
The signature must be the person’s legal name, but it need not be in the exact form that’s on the registration card. “Dave” for “David” or “Sam” for “Samuel” would pass muster, said Melendez who used to work at the Wood County Board of Elections. What’s most important is that the signatures match.
Melendez is coordinating the drive to gather signatures in Northwest Ohio. That includes Wood and Lucas counties, as well as Sandusky, Erie, and Ottawa. He aims to collect 3,000 signatures a week for the next 10 weeks.
Among those on hand was Wood County resident Melissa Moore.
She attended to find out how she can help get the initiative on the ballot. A health care worker, she doesn’t have a lot of free time, but for this she’ll make time. “I believe it’s important for women’s health. Abortion is a health care issue. … I think women should have the right to choose.”
Though the signature drive is just getting underway, an advertising campaign has already been launched to combat it.
Protect Women Ohio, a dark money group – an organization meant to influence voters that does not reveal the source of its funding –has launched a $5 million ad campaign.
[RELATED: Anti-abortion group Protect Women Ohio is spending $5 million on new ad campaign (Ohio Capital Journal)]
That kind of efforts is always a concern, said Melendez, a veteran political operative.
He said he’s seen the ads, and they are “simply lies,” he said. “They’re not being truthful about what we’re proposing.”
The initiative, for example, does not affect parental choice. “That’s not in our amendment.”
These ads, he said, “do affect the voters” but he believes that “people are going to see the truth and learn enough about this issue that they’ll vote the right way.”
Even as the campaign is in its early stages, he’s confident. “If we get on the ballot, we’re going to win.”
