The signature gathering effort was approved in mid-April, and technically has 90 days to complete its work. However, since petitions only became available three weeks ago, and since the deadline for filing signatures is on June 30, these signatures were gathered in only one-third of the actual available time.
This is all pretty good news, but there is one big caveat. A significant percentage of the signatures might not be valid:
We Are Ohio spokeswoman Melissa Fazekas said a sampling has shown a signature validation rate of about 60 percent. If that holds true, the group would have to collect about 400,000 signatures to have enough to make the ballot.
I contacted We Are Ohio spokesperson Melissa Fazekas to ask her about the validation rate. She told me that it was actually "over 60%," rather than just at 60%. Fazekas added that such a validation rate is "pretty normal" for an effort such as this, and that "we're comfortable with were we're at."
Further, according to my quick math, even if the validation rate is only 60% for all signatures gathered, We Are Ohio is still easily on pace to surpass the necessary threshold. Even though they have only been gathering signatures for three weeks, they have more than half of what they need with six weeks to go.
If you are in Ohio, you can find a map of petition signing events here. Given how unpopular SB 5 is, getting repeal on the ballot is probably more than half the battle.