The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the August 8th special election to vote on Ohio State Issue 1 aimed at altering the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments can legally proceed as scheduled.
Ohio State Issue 1 if approved by voters would mandate a 60 percent approval percentage for any future constitutional amendments, call for signatures from all 88 counties, and do away with the opportunity to “cure” petitions by collecting additional signatures if necessary.
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled on party lines 4-3 that the election can proceed saying in the majority opinion that “The special election is authorized by Article XVI, Section 1 of the Ohio Constitution, and the secretary is therefore authorized to proceed with it.”
Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy, and Justices Pat DeWine and Joe Deters all signed on to the majority opinion Justice Pat Fischer agreed with the decision but did not sign onto the majority opinion.
Democratic Justices Jennifer Brunner, Michael Donnelly, and Melody Stewart dissented saying that authorizing this special election “ignores the law.”
This follows a Democratic-backed group One Person One Vote filing a lawsuit against Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose asserting that the August 8th election is illegal since the General Assembly banned statewide special elections in December as a result of their high costs and poor voter turnout.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill (HB) 458 into law earlier this year, drastically altering the state’s election laws, including requiring a photo ID and eliminating August elections.
“The General Assembly’s attempt to put the Amendment before the people in a low-turnout August special election is unlawful. The Revised Code prescribes an unambiguous schedule for elections. It expressly limits special elections on constitutional amendments to November, March (coinciding with presidential primaries), or May. It does not permit statewide August elections for any purpose,” the lawsuit claimed.
With reference to unsuccessful ballot initiatives in Arkansas and South Dakota in 2022, the lawsuit also claimed that voters are against changes such as these.
With the high court ruling, Ohio voters can vote on State Issue 1 in the special election on August 8th.
Democratic lawmakers argue that Issue 1 “would destroy citizen-driven ballot initiatives as we know them, upending our right to make decisions that directly impact our lives.”
They contend that Issue 1 would put 40 percent of voters in charge of decision-making for the majority, would permanently undo constitutional protections that have been in place for over 100 years, would destroy citizen-driven ballot initiatives as we know them, and will apply to every single amendment on any issue Ohioans will ever vote on.
Republican lawmakers argue that “Issue 1 protects our Constitution from deep-pocketed, out-of-state interests. By passing Issue 1, the people will ensure constitutional changes are widely accepted and declare that Ohio’s Constitution is not for sale.”
They contend that Issue 1 will ensure that amendments have widespread support and tell special interests that the state Constitution is not up for grabs, by requiring signatures from voters in every county, special interests will no longer be able to cherry-pick where they gather signatures, and by restricting the do-overs on signature submissions special interests will have only once chance to play by the rules.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Ohio Supreme Court” by Joffre Essley. CC BY-SA 2.0.
