PROVISIONS OF THE Constitution of the State of Ohio Who may vote. By ballot. Voters, when privileged from arrest. Forfeiture of elective franchise. Persons not considered residents of the state. Idiots or insane persons. Nomination of elective officers by direct vote. ARTICLE V. ELECTIVE FRANCHISE. SEC. 1. Every white male citizen of the United States, of the age twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of the state one year next preceding the election, and of the county, township, or ward, in which he resides, such time as may be provided by law, shall have the qualifications of an elector, and be entitled to vote at all elections. NOTE:-1. This restriction on the elective franchise is now abrogated by the 14th and 15th articles of amendment to the Federal Constitution. 2. An inmate of a county infirmary who has adopted the township in which the infirmary is situated as his place of residence, having no family elsewhere, and who possesses the other qualifications required by law, is entitled to vote in the township in which said infirmary is situated. Sturgeon v. Korte 34 O. S. 525, 533. SEC. 2. All elections shall be by ballot. For definition of "ballot" see State v. Board, 80 0. S. 471. SEC. 3. Electors during their attendance at elections, and in going to, and returning therefrom, shall be privileged from arrest in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace. SEC. 4. The general assembly shall have the power to exclude from the privilege of voting, or of being eligible to office, any person convicted of bribery, perjury or other infamous crimes. SEC. 5. No person in the military, naval, or marine service of the United States, shall by being stationed in any garrison, or military, or naval station, within the state, be considered a resident of this state. SEC. 6. No idiot, or insane person, shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector. SEC. 7. All nominations for elective state, district, county and municipal offices shall be made at direct primary elections or by petition as provided by law, and provision shall be made by law for a preferential vote for United States senator; but direct primaries shall not be held for RELATING TO ELECTIONS. not apply to townships or less than 2,000 population. municipalities the nomination of township officers or for the officers of Section does municipalities of less than two thousand population, unless petitioned for by a majority of the electors of such township or municipality. All delegates from this state to the national convention of political parties shall be chosen by direct vote of the electors. Each candidate for such delegate shall state his first and second choices for the presidency, which preferences shall be printed upon the primary ballot below the name of such candidate, but the name of no candidate for the presidency shall be so used without his written authority. ARTICLE XVII. ing elections. SEC. 1. Elections for state and county officers Times for holdshall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in the even numbered years; and all elections for all other elective officers shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in the odd numbered years. officers. SEC. 2. The term of office of the governor, lieutenant Terms of governor, attorney-general, secretary of state and treasurer of state shall be two years, and that of the auditor of state shall be four years. The term of office of the judges of the supreme court and circuit court shall be such even number of years not less than six (6) years as may be prescribed by the general assembly; that of the judges of the common pleas court six (6) years and of the judges of the probate court, four (4) years, and that of other judges shall be such even number of years not exceeding six (6) years as may be prescribed by the general assembly. The term of office of justices of the peace shall be such even number of years not exceeding four (4) years as may be so prescribed; and the term of office of the members of the board of public works shall be such even number of years not exceeding six (6) years as may be prescribed; and the term of office of all elective county, township, municipal and school officers shall be such even number of years not exceeding four (4) years as may be so prescribed. And the general assembly shall have power to so extend existing terms of office as to effect the purpose of section 1 of this article. Any vacancy which may occur in any elective state office other than that of a member of the general assembly or of governor, shall be filled by appointment by the governor until the disability is removed, or a successor elected Vacancies. and qualified. Every such vacancy shall be filled by election at the first general election for the office which is vacant, that occurs more than thirty (30) days after the vacancy shall have occurred. The person elected shall fill the office for the unexpired term. All vacancies in other elective offices shall be filled for the unexpired term in such manner as may be prescribed by law. Right reserved to propose laws to the constitu tion and to adopt or reject the same at the polls. SEC. 3. Every elective officer holding office when this amendment is adopted, shall continue to hold such office for the full term for which he was elected, and until his successor shall be elected and qualified as provided by law. ARTICLE II. SEC. 1. The legislative power of the state shall be and amendments vested in a general assembly consisting of a senate and house of representatives but the people reserve to themselves the power to propose to the general assembly laws and amendments to the constitution, and to adopt or reject the same at the polls on a referendum vote as hereinafter provided. They also reserve the power to adopt or reject any law, section of any law or any item in any law appropriating money passed by the general assembly, except as hereinafter provided; and independent of the general assembly to propose amendments to the constitution and to adopt or reject the same at the polls. The limitations expressed in the constitution, on the power of the general assembly to enact laws, shall be deemed limitations on the power of the people to enact laws. (Adopted Sept. 3, 1912.) Percentum re quired to pro The people also reserve to themselves the legislative power of the referendum on the action of the General Assembly ratifying any proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States. No such ratification shall go into effect until ninety days after it shall have been adopted by the General Assembly. When a petition signed by six per centum of the electors of the state as is provided for a referendum petition on laws passed by the General Assembly shall have been filed with the Secretary of State within ninety days after said ratification by the General Assembly, ordering that such ratification be submitted to the electors of the state for their approval or rejection, the Secretary of State shall submit to the electors of the state for their approval or rejection said ratification in the manner provided for the submission by referendum of a law passed by the General Assembly, and said action of the General Assembly ratifying the said amendment to the Constitution of the United States shall not go into effect until and unless approved by a majority of those voting upon the same. All the provisions of this article on the subject of the referendum upon laws passed by the General Assembly shall apply hereto, so far as the same are applicable, except that the General Assembly may not declare its ratification of a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States an emergency not subject to the referendum. (Adopted Nov. 5, 1918.) SEC. 1a. The first aforestated power reserved by the pose an amend people is designated the initiative, and the signatures of ten per centum of the electors shall be required upon a petition to propose an amendment to the constitution. When a petition signed by the aforesaid required number of electors, shall have been filed with the secretary of state, and verified as herein provided, proposing an amendment to the constitution, the full text of which shall have been set forth in such petition, the secretary of state shall submit for the approval or rejection of the electors, the proposed amendment, in the manner hereinafter provided, at the next succeeding regular or general election in any year occurring subsequent to ninety days after the filing of such petition. The initiative petitions, above described, shall have printed across the top thereof: "Amendment to the Constitution Proposed by Initiative Petition to be Submitted Directly to the Electors." (Adopted Sept. 3, 1912.) The language of the constitution definitely and distinctly was intended to appropriate the general state election machinery for the adoption_or_rejection of Amendments to the constitution proposed under its provisions. G. C. Sec. 4785 must be presumed to have been in contemplation of both framers of the constitutional amendments and the legislature. Its provisions, as well as those of the constitution, are sufficient to require the elections on amendments to be conducted aecording to law. Furthermore G. C. Sec. 5019 was specially amended to provide for election on referendum of laws and constitutional amendments, and is adequate for that purpose: Hockett v. Liquor License Board, 16 0. N. P. (N. S.) 417, 25 0. D. (N. P.) 117 (armed by the court of appeals, which was affirmed, Hockett v. Liquor Licensing Board, 91 0. S. 176). re quired to propose When proposed ferred to electors; supple law shall be re mentary petition. SEC. 1b. When at any time, not less than ten days Percentum prior to the commencement of any session of the general a law. assembly, there shall have been filed with the secretary of state a petition signed by three per centum of the electors and verified as herein provided, proposing a law, the full text of which shall have been set forth in such petition, the secretary of state shall transmit the same to the general assembly as soon as it convenes. If said proposed law shall be passed by the general assembly, either as petitioned for or in an amended form, it shall be subject to the referendum. If it shall not be passed, or if it shall be passed in an amended form, or if no action shall be taken thereon within four months from the time it is received by the general assembly, it shall be submitted by the secretary of state to the electors for their approval or rejection at the next regular or general election, if such submission shall be demanded by supplementary petition verified as herein provided and signed by not less than three per centum of the electors in addition to those signing the original petition, which supplementary petition must be signed and filed with the secretary of state within ninety days after the proposed law shall have been rejected by the general assembly or after the expiration of such term of four months, if no action has been taken thereon, or after the law as passed by the general assembly shall have been filed by the governor in the office of the secretary of state. The proposed law shall be submitted in the form demanded by such supplementary petition, which form shall be either as first petitioned for or with any amendment or amendments which may have been incorporated therein by either branch or by both branches of the general assembly. If a proposed law so submitted is approved How Initiative Petition shall be printed; ballot submitting the same. When proposed law or amendment, if approved, shall take effect. Percentum required to refer a law, etc., to the electors; Aling petition. 66 by a majority of the electors voting thereon, it shall be the law and shall go into effect as herein provided in lieu of any amended form of said law which may have been passed by the general assembly, and such amended law passed by the general assembly shall not go into effect until and unless the law proposed by supplementary petition shall have been rejected by the electors. All such initiative petitions, last above described, shall have printed across the top thereof, in case of proposed laws: 'Law Proposed by Initiative Petition First to be Submitted to the General Assembly." Ballots shall be so printed as to permit an affirmative or negative vote upon each measure submitted to the electors. Any proposed law or amendment to the constitution submitted to the electors as provided in section la and section 1b, if approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon, shall take effect thirty days after the election at which it was approved and shall be published by the secretary of state. If conflicting proposed laws or conflicting proposed amendments to the constitution shall be approved at the same election by a majority of the total number of votes cast for and against the same, the one receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall be the law, or in the case of amendments to the constitution shall be the amendment to the constitution. No law proposed by initiative petition and approved by the electors shall be subject to the veto of the governor. (Adopted Sept. 3, 1912.) There is no statutory proceeding for contesting an election under a state referendum at which amendments to the constitution are submitted to the electors of the state: State ex rel. v. Graves, 91 0. S. 113. The courts can not enjoin a referendum proceeding under this section on the ground that the proposed law which is to be submitted to the electors will be unconstitutional if enacted: Pfeifer v. Graves, 88 0. S. 473. An initiated law, which has been introduced into the house of representa tives, in compliance with this section, and referred to the proper committee, which reported it back with amendments which were agreed to by the house, which took no further action upon it, may be submitted as thus amended to the electors of the state in due time after a supplementary petition properly signed and verified has been filled with the secretary of state demanding its submission in its amended form. Amendments to the proposed law, thus reported and agreed to, are thereby incorporated in it as required by said section: Pfeifer v. Graves, 88 0. S. 473. SEC. 1c. The second aforestated power reserved by the people is designated the referendum, and the signatures of six per centum of the electors shall be required upon a petition to order the submission to the electors of the state for their approval or rejection, of any law, section of any law or any item in any law appropriating money passed by the general assembly. No law passed by the general assembly shall go into effect until ninety days after it shall have been filed by the governor in the office of the secretary of state, except as herein provided. When a petition, signed by six per centum of the electors of the state and verified as herein provided, shall have been filed with the secretary of state within ninety days after any law shall have been filed by the governor in the office of the secretary of state, ordering that such law, section of such law or any item in such law appropriating money be submitted to |