Vote Yes Ohio, the official campaign to protect the state constitution has launched a new digital advertisement supporting Ohio State Issue 1 and highlighting the need to protect the state constitution from special interest groups.
The ad, titled “We The People,” is the first 30-second advertisement released by Vote Yes Ohio aimed at informing voters of the need to raise the threshold of the state constitution by voting yes on Issue 1 during the August 8th special election.
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 advertisement alleges that Ohio’s current 50 percent threshold to change the state constitution is far too low and that Ohio should follow the U.S. Constitution standards of a 60 percent amendment threshold.
“Our founders developed the best government document in human history the U.S. Constitution. They knew to carefully set the minimum threshold for changes at 66 percent. But in Ohio our constitution allows special interests to amend it with just a 50 percent vote. That’s way too easy. Our fundamental rights can be wiped away by corporate greed. Let’s set the bar at 60 percent. Be wise like the founders. Vote yes on Issue 1,” the commercial says.
A Democratic-backed group that opposes Ohio State Issue 1, One Person One Vote, also released its own advertisement last month in an attempt to dissuade voters from supporting the Issue claiming that Issue 1 “ends majority rule in Ohio.”
Ohio Republican lawmakers applauded the launch of the Vote Yes Ohio advertisement.
According to State Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville), the new Vote Yes Ohio advertisement is “fantastic.”
“Fantastic new Vote Yes Ohio TV ad is up and running. The Founding Fathers set a 66 percent threshold to amend our federal Constitution. Ohio should adopt a 60 percent threshold for our state Constitution to protect against outside special interests,” Stewart said.
State Representative Beth Lear (R-Galena) told The Ohio Star that she is voting yes on Issue 1 to protect the state constitution.
“Why do the Democrats and their special interest groups believe Ohio’s Constitution should be easy to manipulate by a simple majority of those voting? They want to change our foundational values that’s why. Our Founders knew power was corrupting and made our U.S. Constitution difficult to change without strong, widespread approval. The left agrees, but only when it comes to their own groups. the Democrat party, NAACP, League of Women Voters, and Planned Parenthood all require 60 percent or more to change their organizational constitutions but they want easy access to ours. I’m voting YES to protect our second amendment, freedom of religion, and parent rights from those who want to ‘Californicate’ Ohio,” Lear told The Star. Lear was a journalist at The Star in 2019 prior to her run for office in 2022.
Five major Ohio businesses, the Associated Builders and Contractors of Ohio, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Ohio Restaurant Association, and the Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association have endorsed Issue 1 saying that Ohio should safeguard the state constitution and that they agree with State Issue 1’s requirement that initiative petitions gather signatures from at least 5 percent of electors from all of the state’s 88 counties.
The Issue has also garnered support from numerous members of the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate as well as Ohio Secretary of State and U.S. Senate Candidate Frank LaRose and Ohio Auditor Keith Faber.
The legislation comes at a time when pro-abortion activists are working to pass a proposed constitutional amendment in November that would legalize abortion throughout the state.
A second proposed amendment that would eventually raise the state’s minimum wage will likely appear on a 2024 ballot.
Voters will decide whether to approve State Issue 1 during a statewide special election on August 8th.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
