STATE WARNS ELECTION OFFICIALS ABOUT DRUG-ISSUE PETITIONS

Election officials in all 88 counties have been told to be alert for
"questionable activity" connected with a petition drive to get a
drug-treatment constitutional amendment on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The alert went out Wednesday from Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell's
office after Wood County Prosecutor Alan R. Mayberry complained about
petition circulators at the Wood County Fair.

The complaint refers to what would be Issue 1, a proposed constitutional
amendment that would substitute treatment in place of jail for some
low-level, nonviolent drug offenders. Backers of the issue have until
Wednesday to file the 335,422 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters
needed to place the issue on the ballot.

Mayberry's complaint, coupled with questions about thousands of voter-
registration forms submitted to the Lucas County Board of Elections last
month, prompted Blackwell to order local officials to be more vigilant,
spokesman Carlo LoParo said.

"He is reminding boards of elections if they find instances of
mischaracterization or misrepresentation in the petition process that the
next step is to refer the matter to their county prosecutor," LoParo said.

Edward J. Orlett, spokesman for the Ohio Campaign for New Drug Policies,
the group backing and funding the petition, described the complaints as
minor "isolated incidents."

Orlett noted that Mayberry belongs to the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys
Association, a group that has taken a strong stance against the treatment
issue.

Nevertheless, Blackwell's office seemed to take the matter seriously. In an
e-mail, Eric M. Seabrook, general counsel, reminded county officials that
irregularities in petitions or voter registration should be brought to the
attention of county prosecutors.

"It is critical that we protect the integrity of the election process in
Ohio," he said.

In a letter to Blackwell, Mayberry alleged that paid petition circulators
misrepresented themselves to him as employees of the secretary of state and
inaccurately described the ballot issue to fair-goers.

"I played along," Mayberry said, "and asked several questions."

Mayberry said he later approached several people on the fairgrounds and
persuaded some to take their names off the petitions after he "clarified
the issue" for them.