TWINSBURG, Ohio – Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has a message for so-called petition blockers who harass or intimidate people trying to sign or circulate petitions for the proposed House Bill 6 referendum: “Knock it off" or risk prosecution.

Speaking Monday morning in Twinsburg, Yost encouraged signature gatherers to report incidents of intimidation to his office by calling at 1-800-282-0515. If a local prosecutor declines to press charges, Yost’s office might do so, he said.

Efforts to repeal HB6, Ohio’s bailout of FirstEnergy Solutions’ nuclear power plants and two coal-fired plants owned by Ohio utility companies, have become volatile of late. HB6 defenders earlier this month hired workers to follow and interfere with people circulating petitions for a repeal referendum. Some of the petition circulators have reported being harassed, and in at least one case, police got involved.

Yost said his office has heard about “petition educators or petition blockers who are working for the opponents to the referendum” either educating potential signers about why signing is a bad idea, or in some cases "they’re kind of blocking, getting in the way of people even being able to get to the person circulating the petition.

“We have anecdotal evidence that there have been instances where it’s actually escalated,” Yost said. “One instance where someone may have been struck, another instance where people may have been surrounded by multiple petition blockers, another instance where maybe there was somebody who was followed into another town.”

The Republican attorney general cited a section Ohio’s election fraud law, which makes it a crime to use threats or intimidation to keep someone from signing a petition, or to get them to sign, or to circulate or not circulate a petition.

“There’s a lot of different ways you can intimidate somebody or coerce them, but the bottom line is, that’s against the law,” Yost said. “People that oppose this referendum have a First Amendment right to oppose it and to speak out, but that right ends where intimidation and coercion begin.”

Opponents of HB6 have until Oct. 21 to collect 265,000 signatures from registered voters in order to get on the November 2020 ballot. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed HB6 in July.

In one recent case, a woman hired as a petition blocker has been charged with criminal damaging. She is accused of breaking a man’s cell phone as he collected signatures outside a central Ohio library.

Yost said he sent a letter to Ohio’s U.S. attorneys on Monday informing them that his office is gathering evidence of possible violations.

“Federal law makes it a crime to conspire between two or more people to accomplish the same things that are prohibited by Ohio statute, and I’ve offered to work with them [U.S. attorneys] in case of any efforts that they may undertake to avoid duplication,” Yost said.

Yost said he was not sure about the accuracy of “anecdotal” reports, which mostly surfaced on social media.

“There’s a lot of disinformation out there swirling around the referendum campaign," he said. "But respect your neighbors. Respect their rights. And most of all, respect our society and our system here in Ohio that allows for a referendum, allows for petitions, allows for free speech.”

The new law raises $900 million over six years for two Ohio nuclear plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions, and $120 million for two coal plants owned by Ohio utility companies. The subsidy is paid for by fees tacked onto Ohioans’ electrical bills.

Generation Now, the pro-HB6 group that has hired petition blockers, said in a statement that most of its staffers have acted within the confines of the law.

“Generation Now agrees with Attorney General Yost that FieldWorks staffers in the field should not intimidate petition circulators or any citizens they encounter,” said spokesman Curt Steiner. “Field staffers have been reminded repeatedly to act appropriately and generally it appears they are. One staffer was fired after misbehavior was documented and FieldWorks will follow up on any documented incidents.”

The group that has hired petitioners, Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, released a statement commending Yost’s actions.

“As Ohio’s highest law enforcement officer, our petition drive welcomes the attorney general’s call for House Bill 6 supporters to tone down their actions and step back from their harassment and intimidation tactics against our petition collection teams,” the group said, calling the campaign “increasingly violent.”