All four amendments proposed by the left-leaning group Reform Ohio Now failed in last night's election, both in the state and in Athens County.
Because of efforts by opposition group Ohio First, Issues 2 through 5 failed by approximately a 2-to-1 margin, said Ohio First spokesman David Hopcraft.
It was an effort to overcome special interests and we succeeded
Hopcraft said.
The issues failed not only statewide, but also in Athens County, although by not as large a margin. Issue 2, which would have changed the current absentee voter policy, failed by just 175 votes in Athens County.
However, other issues did not fare so well.
Issue 3, which attempted to reform campaign finance, failed by 1,170 votes. Issue 4, which proposed the creation of a committee to oversee the modification of congressional districts, failed by 2,281 votes. Issue 5, which would have placed a bi-partisan board in charge of Ohio's elections as opposed to having the Secretary of State in charge, failed by 2,117 votes.
Reform Ohio Now, despite the failure of its amendments, is not discouraged by these results, said Campaign Director Scarlett Bouder. In particular, the Reform Ohio Now amendments did better than average in urban areas, as well as Athens County.
Without Reform Ohio Now, these questions would never have been asked, Bouder said. People weren't talking about gerrymandered districts or campaign finance reform months ago, but the addition of these issues to the ballot initiated debate, she said.
And even though these issues failed in Ohio, other states are now considering similar actions, Bouder said.
This is going to set off a firestorm of electoral reform Bouder said.
While the public may not be in favor of these reforms, Bouder said, the issues brought up by Reform Ohio Now forced the legislature to take a look at these issues and admit the system is broken.
If you put a question on the ballot that asked if people wanted more accountable government and less corruption most people would choose yes
Bouder said. But things are a little more complicated than that.
Low turnout numbers may have affected results, Bouder said. Even though the Reform Ohio Now amendments garnered attention in the media, turnout was still low.
Dustin Spriestersbach, a third-year Ohio University student majoring in electrical engineering, did not vote yesterday but said it was his own fault for not doing so.
I didn't know about the issues
he said, but I didn't make an effort to learn about them.
There were certainly a lot less people voting this year than in previous years, said poll worker Robert Christy.
I wish more people would've voted
he said.
At press time, with a majority of precincts in the state reporting; Issue 2 failed 1,609,361 votes to 921,151; Issue 3 failed 1,689,595 votes to 819,973; Issue 4 failed 1,757,192 votes to 748,079; and Issue 5 failed 1,754,000 to 731,035.
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Chris Yonker
