Ohio Strip Club Owners File Referendum Signatures
CLEVELAND, OH — Dancers For Democracy, a group of exotic dancers and club owners, delivered 120 boxes containing 382,000 signatures intended to stop the enforcement of a law put into effect this week to the office of the state’s Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. 244,000 of the signatures need to be verified as signatures of registered Ohio voters to stop the law from moving forward.The new law forces clubs to close between midnight and 6:00 am and prevent nudity after midnight in clubs that have liquor licenses that are allowed to be open that late. It will also prohibit physical contact of any kind between patrons and nude or semi-nude dancers.
The Secretary of State opened her office specifically for the group, as it had missed the Labor Day deadline for the filing. If the signatures are deemed valid, the matter will appear on the ballot in November. If the group falls short, the state will give them 10 more business days to get the proper number.