The Franklin County Board of Elections today announced that they were able to verify enough of the 38 thousand signatures necessary to trigger an election. The petition was submitted in early May by the group Represent Ohio. Board spokesman, Ben Piscitelli said the issue is one step closer to being voted on in a special election in August.
"So City Council still has to approve this but it's likely to appear on the ballot August 2nd, we already have a special election schedule there."
The petition would require the city to adopt ward-style representation whereby city council members would be elected by and represent various Columbus districts. Currently there are seven council members who represent the city at-large.