Petitions halt new strip club rules
Associated Press
COLUMBUS - New state rules restricting strip clubs will not go into effect today after opponents submitted petitions for a statewide referendum overturning the law, the secretary of state's office said.
The group representing strip club owners and dancers want a ballot measure to overturn a law that halts nude dancing after midnight and prohibits patrons from touching strippers.
Citizens for Community Standards turned in 382,508 signatures to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's office Monday, said Sandy Theis, a spokeswoman for the group. The signatures still must be validated by Brunner's office.
"We are very, very confident that we're going to make it on the ballot in November," Theis said.
The secretary of state's office opened briefly during the Labor Day holiday to allow the group to turn in the petitions before the new restrictions took effect.
The group needs at least 241,366 valid signatures from registered voters - a number that equals 6 percent of the total vote cast in the 2006 governor's race - to place the issue on the November ballot.
The petitions block implementation of the law pending the outcome of the November vote, said Jeff Ortega, a spokesman for the secretary of state. Ortega said Brunner's office would work quickly to determine if the group collected enough valid signatures to put the issue on the ballot.
The club owners and dancers argue the law infringes on the rights to free speech and expression.
"It's time to stop legislating morality," said Jennifer Welch, a dancer from Cincinnati and member of Dancers for Democracy, a group formed to fight the new rules.
Citizens for Community Values, a Cincinnati-based conservative group that pushed for the new law, argues that the restrictions will reduce crimes such as prostitution and decrease blight in neighborhoods around strip clubs.
The conservative group has said that it doubts the club owners would get enough valid signatures and that Ohio voters would support the new law, which passed the Republican-controlled legislature in May. Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland allowed it to become law without his signature.
If the secretary of state's office finds the group fell short, Citizens for Community Standards will have an additional 10 business days to submit more signatures, Theis said