COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Attorney General’s Office has certified the petition title and summary for a proposed constitutional amendment titled Prohibition of Construction of a Data Center, according to a news release issued Thursday.
The petition was submitted March 16.
“The title and summary are fair and truthful statements of the proposed initiated constitutional amendment,” the response letter sent to the petitioners said. This certification “should not be construed as an affirmation of the enforceability and constitutionality of the proposed amendment.”
The next step is for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to file a verified copy of the constitutional amendment and its certification with the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. The petitioners must then collect signatures from registered voters equal to at least 10% of the vote cast in the most recent gubernatorial election. Those signatures must come from voters in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, and for each of those counties the number must equal at least 5% of the vote cast in the most recent gubernatorial election.
If sufficient signatures are verified by the Secretary of State’s Office at least 65 days before the election, the full text of the proposed amendment will be placed on the ballot in the next regular or general election that occurs subsequent to 125 days after the filing of the petition.
Data centers have emerged as a contentious issue throughout Ohio, and many communities have issued moratoriums or bans on their development. Residents have expressed concerns over these centers because of their exorbitant use of resources such as water and electricity.