Ohio Supreme Court Rules August 8th Special Election Can Continue as Planned

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.

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Ohio Ballot Board Updates State Issue 1 Ballot Language

The Ohio Ballot Board approved new ballot language for State Issue 1 following an Ohio Supreme Court ruling that the board rewrites the proposal to address issues in the ballot text of the previously approved version.

The new version approved by the Ballot Board in a 3-2 vote split down party lines summarizes for voters what State Issue 1 would do if passed, updated a section of text that the state Supreme Court said misrepresented the new threshold of voter signatures that amendment campaigns must amass from each Ohio county to be eligible for the ballot and removed the term “any” from the title of the ballot wording.

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Ohio Supreme Court Rules State Issue 1 Ballot Language Must be Rewritten

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the Ohio Ballot Board must rewrite some of the language that will appear as State Issue 1 before voters on the August special election ballot.

In the decision issued by Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy and Justices Pat Fischer, Pat DeWine, and Joe Deters the Ohio Ballot Board (OBB) is to address issues in the ballot text, including one that they said misrepresented the new threshold of voter signatures that amendment campaigns must amass from each Ohio county to be eligible for the ballot.

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18 State Attorney Generals Sign on to Brief in Support of Overturning Preliminary Injunction on Ohio’s Heartbeat Act

Eighteen state attorney generals have signed onto a brief filed by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost trying to overturn a lower court’s preliminary injunction on the state’s Heartbeat Act which blocks the majority of abortions once a fetal heartbeat is found.

Yost filed the 20-page brief on Monday at the Ohio Supreme Court saying that the high court should dismiss the preliminary injunction on enforcing the state’s Heartbeat Act because the plaintiffs are clinics and not patients.

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Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee Announces Ohio Supreme Court Endorsements

On Friday, the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee voted to endorse Ohio Supreme Court Justice Joe Deters, Franklin Court of Common Pleas Judge Dan Hawkins, and Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan for the 2024 Ohio Supreme Court elections.

According to Ohio GOP Chairman Alex Triantafilou, all three candidates have judicial experience, and their success as prosecutors show that they are committed to fighting crime hard and making Ohio safer for all Ohioans.

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Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee to Consider Supreme Court Endorsements and Resolution to Protect State Constitution

The Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee is scheduled to meet on Friday to consider endorsements for the three Ohio Supreme Court seats up for grabs in 2024, as well as a resolution to support the Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment.

In the Ohio Supreme Court, Democratic Justices Michael Donnelly and Melody Stewart are up for re-election and Republican Justice Joe Deters must run for retention in 2024 and re-election in 2026. It will give Republicans an opportunity to hold 6 of 7 seats in the high court. Currently, the GOP has a 4-3 majority in the state Supreme Court.

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Ohio Supreme Court Accepts Attorney General Yost’s Appeal in ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban Case, Won’t Rule on Constitutional Question

The Ohio Supreme Court has formally accepted an appeal by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in a case involving the state’s six-week abortion ban.

The court announced on Tuesday morning that it will only consider two of the three legal issues Yost asked the court to consider: whether he has the right to appeal a lower court’s decision to put the heartbeat law on hold and whether abortion clinics have “standing” or the legal authority to challenge the law in the first place.

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Republican Appeals Court Judge Assigned to Preside over Ohio Abortion Law Injunction

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy assigned Matthew Byrne, a Twelfth District Court of Appeals judge, this week to preside over a state appeal of a preliminary injunction on Ohio’s abortion law.

Byrne takes over for newly appointed Ohio Justice Joe Deters, who recused himself after the abortion clinic plaintiffs argued that he couldn’t rule on the state’s heartbeat bill ban because he was an original defendant on the case when serving as Hamilton County Prosecutor.

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Former Judge Russell Mock Elected Hamilton County GOP Chair

The Hamilton County Republican Party elected former Judge Russell Mock as its new chairman early on Thursday evening.

Green Township Trustee Triffon Callos, who has served as the temporary party chair for the previous month, said that Mock defeated former state representative Tom Brinkman at a closed-door meeting of the county party’s central committee at Clovernook County Club by a vote of 125 to 66.

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