Petition Circulator for House Bill 6 Referendum Attacked by Woman Working for Opposition

 

Gathering signatures for the House Bill 6 referendum has become a dangerous occupation. Late last week, one paid circulator had his phone smacked out of his hand and damaged as he attempted to film a “blocker” who was trying to discourage his work.

Generation Now supports House Bill 6 and hired FieldWorks to bring in the blockers. “FieldWorks” was visible on the lanyard of the woman who hit the petitioner’s phone, according to The Daily Record.

The Dispatch posted, “A Columbus woman hired as a “blocker” to monitor petition circulators has been charged with criminal damaging for slapping the cell phone out of hand of a man obtaining signatures on the House Bill 6 referendum.”

 

The security video footage of the interaction reveals the man hired to get registered voters to sign petitions approached the woman hired to try to impede his progress. As he attempted to photograph or possibly videotape her interacting with a resident, she knocked his phone out of his hand.

The campaign had already gotten nasty, with supporters of the nuclear bailout bill claiming those pushing for the referendum are, “…allowing China control over Ohio.”

Literature mailed to voters warns them if they sign the petition being pushed by Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, they will be giving their personal information to the Chinese Government. It also tells voters:

  • Keep Ohio’s power grid out of the hands of the Chinese Government.
  • Protect over 4,000 good paying jobs.
  • Help to preserve our environment. Ohio’s nuclear power plants are carbon free and create no air pollution.

The Dispatch issued an editorial on Friday. “From our editorial board: ‘Not content with wildly misleading ads, opponents of the referendum have hired people to monitor – some might say stalk – the people hired to collect those signatures to see if they do anything misleading or illegal.”

 

The editorial begins by stating, “Any Ohioan with a television or a mailbox already knows the depths to which political campaign ads will sink with scares, smears and outright lies. Still, the nasty-yet-preposterous campaign against overturning a billion-dollar nuclear plant bailout takes the cake.”

It ends with the Dispatch advocating for the referendum.

“Backers of HB 6 could stick to the honest case for the bill: that nuclear energy is carbon-free and that allowing the plants to close means the loss of 1,300 jobs. But they know those facts don’t outweigh the bill’s negatives, so they’re trying to scare voters with a made-up threat, apparently figuring we all are ignorant enough to buy it,” the editors wrote.

“We hope Ohioans disappoint them. Spread the word: Signing the anti-HB 6 petition is about giving Ohio voters the chance to overturn a $1 billion nuclear plant bailout — period.”

House Bill 6 passed during an unplanned session in the Ohio House in mid July. The bill’s title says it’s purpose is, “…to facilitate and continue the development, production, and use of electricity from nuclear, coal, and renewable energy resources in this state, to modify the existing mandates for renewable energy and energy efficiency savings, and to determine amounts of federal funding received for home weatherization services.” It is often referred to as the nuclear bailout bill.

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Beth Lear is a reporter at The Ohio Star.  Follow Beth on Twitter.  Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “HR 6 Incident” by The Columbus Dispatch.

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