Secretary of State Jon Husted responds to lawsuit

COLUMBUS – Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted has released the following statement in response to the lawsuit filed this week against the state by ResponsibleOhio, which seeks to change the ballot title and language for State Issue 3.

“I have an obligation as the state’s chief elections officer to make sure Ohioans understand the decision before them when they enter the voting booth,” Husted said. “There is no better way to describe State Issue 3 than to say it is a monopoly that grants exclusive rights to a certain group of people - rights that would not be afforded to every other Ohioan.

“Webster’s dictionary defines the word monopoly in a way that seamlessly matches what Issue 3 would do,” Husted said. “News publications throughout Ohio have rightly come to the conclusion that Issue 3 would allow a small group of wealthy investors to buy a place in the Ohio Constitution and reserve themselves exclusive rights as the only suppliers of marijuana in Ohio.

“The backers of State Issue 3 could have easily prevented Ohioans from calling their plan a marijuana monopoly by choosing to not write their plan as a marijuana monopoly.

“My interest in this issue, as with every elections issue, is that the people of Ohio understand what is before them and leave the voting booth knowing their vote mattered.”