Voters in Ohio are facing a controversial vote with Issue 1 on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
A yes vote on Issue 1 changes the Ohio Constitution:
- Increases the number of counties from which signatures are required to get an amendment on the ballot from 44 counties (50%) to all 88 counties (100%).
- Removes the 10-day cure period to fix any errors in the collected signatures.
- Increases the passing percentage from 50%+1 vote to 60% on citizen-initiated referendums, but keeps the passing percentage at 50%+1 vote for legislature-initiated referendums.
A no vote on Issue 1 keeps the Ohio Constitution as is:
- Keeps the number of counties from which signatures are required to get an amendment on the ballot at 44 counties (50%).
- Keeps the 10-day cure period to fix any errors in the collected signatures.
- Maintains the passing percentage of a citizen-initiated referendum at a simple majority (50%+1 vote) and does not create a difference between citizen-initiated referendums and legislature-initiated referendums.
Let’s break this down.
‘Protect our Constitution’
In general, Ohio Republicans support Issue 1; Ohio Democrats oppose it.
According to Cleveland Right to Life, several left-leaning organizations require at least 60 percent of their voting members to change their own bylaws, which is what Issue 1 proposes for the Ohio Constitution. Those organizations include the Ohio Democratic Party itself, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio (ACLU), Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Columbus, the NAACP, and the North Eastern Ohio Education Association Inc. (teachers’ union).
Right to Life, in its press release, says nothing about the other two bullet points in the proposal. Neither do most media that report on Issue 1, for some reason (regurgitating press releases and not doing their homework, in my opinion).
Those other two bullet points make the proposal unworkable.
To get an Ohio Constitution amendment on the ballot, supporters now need signatures from residents of at least half of Ohio’s 88 counties. Issue 1 would require signatures from all of them – a huge ask. If an amendment organizer can’t get the required signatures from even one county, they’re done.
The cure period bullet point is even worse. If a proposal doesn’t collect enough valid signatures in even one county, the entire proposal is tossed out and the organizers have to start over – rather than fixing only the specific issue.
The bottom line: The GOP wants to make it nearly impossible to change the Ohio Constitution in any way.
Why would they want to do that?
According to the Columbus Dispatch in a July 5 article:
Proponents of abortion access filed more than 700,000 signatures Wednesday to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot.
Backers of the measure filed 709,786 signatures − more than the required 413,487 to account for possible errors and mistakes. It will be several weeks before Ohioans know if this measure has officially made the fall ballot.
The proposed amendment to the state constitution would ensure “every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s reproductive decisions,” including abortion, contraception and miscarriage care.
Cleveland Right to Life, as well as the Republican Party, don’t want that measure to reach the ballot.
Constitution doesn’t need protecting
Rather than campaigning against it – ie, attempting to convince voters they are right – they are trying to force their views on the rest of us by not allowing the issue to even reach the ballot.
They either are unable to defend their position in such a way that they could collect enough votes, or they are unwilling to do so. They don’t want to take a chance that voters might support the abortion rights measure.
I personally will vote against both ballot issues, if I can. Despite the GOP’s Issue 1 slogan, the Ohio Constitution does not need protecting. And abortion doesn’t need to be codified either. On this issue, leave the Constitution alone.
The Ohio Constitution was ratified in 1851, and has been amended 172 times since then, most recently in 2022.
It’s held up just fine. We don’t need to cut off potential future amendments.
The special election itself could be unethical.
Earlier this year, Ohio Republicans enacted a law that effectively scrubbed August special elections from the state’s calendar, calling them overly expensive, low-turnout endeavors that weren’t worth the trouble.
They were right to do that. Good call.
But in May, Ohio state legislative Republicans scheduled the August election anyway. They are hoping to cut off the November abortion rights ballot issue before it even gets there, by scheduling a vote on the Constitution when few voters are expected to show up at the polls.
Sneaky.
Supporters of abortion rights are turning to ballot measures in the aftermath of the ruling last year by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which for 50 years had guaranteed a right to abortion in the federal Constitution. They are betting on polls showing that public opinion increasingly supports some right to abortion, and opposes the bans and stricter laws that conservative state legislatures have enacted since the court’s decision.
Voters in six states, including conservative ones such as Kentucky and Kansas, voted to protect or establish a right to abortion in their constitutions in last year’s elections, and abortion rights advocates in about 10 other states are considering similar plans.
Abortion is not the black-and-white issue that both political parties make it out to be. Abortion should never be the first option, but there are certain situations (not as many as Democrats would like to think there are) where it could be considered.
Don’t codify it in the Ohio Constitution. But don’t ban it forever, either.
Let’s talk. Let’s work it out. In doctors’ offices and in our homes.
Not at the ballot box.
the liberal conservative 