Ohio Cannabis Referendum Campaign Faces Unpaid Worker Allegations

Campaign Faces At Least Seven Formal Wage Complaints

Seven signature collectors have filed formal wage theft complaints with the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Labor and Worker Safety between April 28 and May 15, 2026, alleging nonpayment for work performed between March 10 and April 22. The complaints name Coalition for Ohio Cannabis Reform, the political action committee sponsoring the November 2026 ballot measure, and its contracted signature-gathering vendor, National Petition Management of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Total unpaid wages exceed $47,000 across the seven workers, the complaints allege. Individual claims range from $4,200 to $9,800. Workers reported they were owed between two and five weeks of back pay at rates of $18 to $22 per hour plus per-signature bonuses. All seven workers were classified as independent contractors rather than employees, according to the complaint filings.

Ohio law requires ballot initiative sponsors to submit 413,487 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify a constitutional amendment for the November ballot. Coalition for Ohio Cannabis Reform publicly announced in February 2026 that it had raised $2.1 million to fund signature gathering and had contracted with National Petition Management to coordinate field operations across all 88 Ohio counties.

National Petition Management Has History of Payment Disputes

National Petition Management, the Arizona-based firm contracted to manage Ohio signature operations, has been named in at least 14 wage-related lawsuits across six states since 2019, according to court records reviewed by CannIntel. Signature collectors working on cannabis ballot measures in Arkansas (2022), Missouri (2022), and South Dakota (2020) previously sued the firm, with settlements or judgments totaling more than $380,000 across those three cases.

In Missouri, 22 signature collectors alleged they were owed a combined $127,000 for work on the 2022 adult-use cannabis initiative that ultimately qualified for the ballot and passed with 53 percent voter approval. That case settled in January 2023 for an undisclosed sum. National Petition Management initially contested the workers' employee classification.

National Petition Management didn't respond to requests for comment submitted by email and phone on May 16 and May 17. Coalition for Ohio Cannabis Reform spokesperson Jennifer Rubin declined to comment on the wage complaints, stating only that "all vendor relationships are being reviewed."

Signature-Gathering Timeline Now in Jeopardy

The wage dispute comes at a critical juncture for the Ohio cannabis referendum, with the campaign needing to submit more than 413,000 valid signatures by July 1, 2026, to qualify for the November ballot. As of May 1, the campaign had publicly reported collecting approximately 287,000 raw signatures. That leaves a gap of at least 126,000 signatures with two months remaining before the statutory deadline.

Signature-gathering operations in six counties—Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Summit, Lucas, and Montgomery—have been suspended since May 8, according to three current signature collectors who spoke with CannIntel on condition of anonymity. Those six counties represent 42 percent of Ohio's registered voter population. They were designated as priority collection zones in the campaign's February field plan.

Ohio law allows a 10-day cure period after the initial submission if the Secretary of State determines the petition falls short of the required valid signature threshold. Campaigns typically aim to submit 125 to 150 percent of the minimum requirement to account for invalid signatures, duplicates, and unregistered voters. At current collection rates, Coalition for Ohio Cannabis Reform would need to average approximately 2,100 validated signatures per day through June 30 to meet the buffered target of 517,000 raw signatures.

For more on the policy stakes and timeline of this referendum effort, see the CannIntel topic hub on the Ohio Cannabis Referendum 2026.

The proposed constitutional amendment would legalize possession of up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis for adults 21 and older, establish a state-regulated retail market overseen by the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Cannabis Control, and allocate 36 percent of excise tax revenue to municipal governments where dispensaries operate. It doesn't include automatic expungement provisions for prior cannabis convictions, a point of contention among criminal justice reform advocates.

If the campaign fails to meet the July 1 deadline, the next opportunity to place a cannabis legalization measure on the ballot would be November 2027, a full 18 months away. Ohio doesn't permit citizen-initiated ballot measures in odd-year primary elections.