Barely a week after launching an effort to award Ohio's electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes nationally, supporters abandoned the quest for this year.

"Due to the time constraints and high number of signatures needed to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot for 2019, it will not be possible to meet the deadline for this year," said a news release from the attorney handling the issue, longtime Democrat Don McTigue of Columbus.

"The committee, therefore, notified the Ohio secretary of state (Tuesday) that they are withdrawing the petition."

Secretary of State Frank LaRose canceled an Ohio Ballot Board meeting slated for Wednesday that could have given the green light for the petition drive on the issue. Supporters of the proposed amendment faced gathering 442,958 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters — 10 percent of the vote cast in the governor’s race last year — by July 3 to place the measure on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Before the withdrawal, Gov. Mike DeWine told reporters, "Well, I'm against that, I think that's a stupid idea, frankly. Why would Ohio voters give up their right to make decisions about who the next president of the United States is?"

If approved, the proposal would have bypassed the Electoral College. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia, with a combined 184 electoral votes, have enacted a similar popular-vote measure into law. States representing 86 more electoral votes would be needed to reach the majority of 270 Electoral College votes to guarantee that the winner of the popular vote nationally would become president. Ohio has 18.

drowland@dispatch.com

@DarrelDRowland