1.3 Million Signatures Gathered for Ohio S.B. 5 Citizens? Veto

From the AFLCIO NOW blog:

A People’s Parade with more than 6,000 Ohio workers, fires engines, a drum corps, bagpipes and a semi-truck full of more than a million signatures marks the latest stage in the citizens’ veto drive to repeal Gov. John Kasich’s (R) bill that eliminates the collective bargaining rights of more than 350,000 public employees.

The parade (click here for a short video) through downtown Columbus today delivered the 1.3 million signatures on repeal petitions  to the Secretary of State’s office. Only 231,000 signatures were needed to put repeal on the November ballot. But the 10,000 We Are Ohio volunteers from all over the Buckeye State found overwhelming support for repeal and collected more than five times the number required.

We Are Ohio spokesperson Melissa Fazekas says, “We originally wanted to collect between 450,000 and 500,000 total signatures. We’ve blown way past that.”

Says Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga:

This unprecedented number is a record for any Ohio ballot initiative and shows that Ohioans are fed up with Gov. Kasich’s extreme partisan agenda.  This is not just a referendum on Senate Bill 5; it is a referendum on Kasich and his political allies’ blatant assault on working families and the middle class.