The campaign to legalize marijuana in Ohio is under investigation for possible voter fraud because the names on petitions and registration forms included dead people, prisoners and voters who say they never filled out the form.
The Hamilton County Board of Elections decided Tuesday to begin issuing subpoenas to find out why about two dozen names appear to be phony or improper. All of the questionable names are connected to the successful campaign to get Issue 3 on the ballot in Ohio.
“It tears at the integrity of the system,” he said.
The leader of the Issue 3 campaign said his lawyers have been contacted by Hamilton County officials and will cooperate with the investigation. The Strategy Network led the petition drive to get Issue 3 on the ballot and has registered more than 150,000 new voters as part of the campaign.
Issue 3 is the largest, most organized and best-funded effort yet to legalize marijuana in Ohio. If voters approve it, the measure would amend Ohio’s constitution to allow pot to be grown for commercial sale at 10 locations across the state. The amendment also would allow individuals to grow small amounts for personal use.
The allegations in Hamilton County come a few months after Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said he found discrepancies in some of the petitions submitted by ResponsibleOhio. The state ultimately concluded the group had gathered enough valid signatures to get Issue 3 on the ballot in November.
The problems in Hamilton County are potentially serious, board officials say, and would result in felony charges if proven true.
Burke, a Democrat, and Triantafilou, a Republican, both say they support the investigation. The four-member board, which often splits along partisan lines, is not divided on this issue.
Board officials discovered discrepancies on the petitions and voter registration forms when reviewing them over the past few weeks.
Triantafilou said the board found six people who claim they did not sign voter registration forms submitted by Responsible Ohio. Four other registration forms were signed with the names of dead people, and 11 names on petitions were from dead people.
“This happened before the pope was here, so we know there were no miracles,” Burke said of the deceased voters.
At least two other registration forms turned out to bear the names of inmates who were in prison at the time they supposedly signed the forms.
Burke said the potential fraud is a problem, but he cautioned that the number of questionable forms and signatures found so far is small compared to the number collected. He said he has no doubt ResponsibleOhio, which collected about 1 million signatures, did enough to place Issue 3 on the ballot.