Attorney General certifies 4-way split of voting proposal

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Attorney General on Friday certified four separate ballot issues aimed at updating the state’s voting laws even as a lawsuit over dividing that update four ways continues.

The issues were previously certified as a single issue by Attorney General David Yost. Then on Monday the state Ballot Board severed the proposal into the four separate issues.

Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections, the group behind the proposed voting law changes, appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, saying the board misinterpreted the state’s single subject rule.

The court on Friday agreed to the group’s request to hear the case quickly. The court gave Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state elections chief who chairs the ballot board, until March 10 to respond to the group’s lawsuit.

But even as that case proceeds, the fair elections group decided to resubmit the language to Yost as part of what they’re calling a two-pronged approach.

Yost said Friday the issues were approved because they were identical to what he previously certified.