A group seeks to put a fracking ban on the Youngstown ballot

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The group behind a charter amendment to ban fracking in Youngstown is back again.

The Youngstown Community Bill of Rights Committee turned in petitions Monday to the city council clerk to get the amendment on the May 6 ballot. The issue was rejected by voters twice last year.

The committee collected 2,010 signatures. It needs 1,562 valid signatures to get the issue back on the ballot.

The committee submitted 2,450 signatures for the November ballot issue with the Mahoning County Board of Elections finding that 1,621 were valid.

The petitions will undergo a preliminary review of the ballot language with council likely to approve it at its Feb. 19 meeting. It is then sent to the elections board to determine if it has enough valid signatures to get on the ballot.

The antifracking amendment was rejected twice by city voters last year. It lost by 13.7 percentage points in May 2013 and by 9.3 percentage points in November. Supporters of the amendment said they will continue to put it on the ballot until it passes.

Opponents of the proposal say it is unenforceable under state law.