Senate Bill 5 (SB5) was repealed by Ohio voters after a campaign by firefighters, police officers and teachers against the measure,[1] which would have limited collective bargaining for public employees in the state.

Among other provisions, SB 5 would have prevented unions from charging fair share dues to employees who opt out.

[2] The process to place the referendum on the ballot for voters to decide was completed by supporters, as signatures were certified by the Ohio Secretary of State.

Senate Bill 5 would have impacted the state's 400,000 public workers, restricting their ability to strike and collectively bargain.

It was then signed into law on March 31, 2011[5][6] Supporters collected about 3,000 signatures during the weekend of April 1, 2011, more than enough to turn in to the Ohio Secretary of State's office for the first step of the referendum process.

We Are Ohio spokeswoman Melissa Fazekas stated that a sampling of those signatures showed a validation rate of about 60 percent.

According to reports, the group must collect 400,000 signatures at that rate in order for the measure to make the ballot.

This breaks the previously held record of 812,978 signatures in 2008 for a constitutional amendment allowing a casino resort in Clinton County.

Of the more than 1.3 million signatures submitted by supporters, the secretary of state's office certified 915,456 for an approximately 70.5% validation rate.