As it stands now, people in Youngstown this fall will not be voting for a fifth time on a city charter amendment that would ban hydraulic fracturing within city limits.

The Mahoning County Board of Elections, by a unanimous 4-0 vote, decided on Wednesday evening to keep the Community Bill of Rights off the November ballot.

Board members say the proposal is unconstitutional because state law gives the Ohio Department of Natural Resources sole and exclusive authority to regulate the permitting, location, and spacing of oil and gas wells and production operations of Ohio’s oil and gas industry.

"this community bill of rights attempted to regulate oil and gas activity. Therefore, in my opinion, it was clearly an unconstitutional attempt to make the people of Youngstown vote on something that was unconstitutional."  said Elections Board member David Betras.

Although Youngstown City Council approved putting the issue on the ballot, the Mahoning County prosecutor's office felt the board needed to vote to certify the issue.

Over a two year period, the amendment has been rejected four times by voters.