A special election taking place in Ohio on Aug. 8 could reshape how ballot initiatives work in that state. Ohio’s registered voters will have the opportunity to vote yes or no on Issue One to change the constitutional amendment process.
In Ohio, citizens can amend the constitution, whether that’s through the creation of a new law or repealing part of the existing law. Ohio’s current law requires signatures from at least 44 counties for this process to occur, but Issue One would increase that to all 88 counties.
The rule of thumb for the current process and Issue One is that 5% of voters from the last gubernatorial, or governor’s, election must be collected from each county. With the current process, for example, you would only need 5% from half of the state’s counties. But with the new process, if you can’t get 5% from every county, your resolution cannot move forward. One county could block the other 87 counties.
Once the signatures are collected, Issue One would also change the voting process. The proposed amendments would need to have a passing rate of at least 60% of voters. Currently, proposed amendments pass at 50% plus one vote, so majority rules.
Part of Issue One also includes the cure period. This is a 10-day period which allows citizens who want to replace or correct signatures which the secretary of state’s office may deem faulty. As reported by the Columbus Dispatch, opponents say this creates an obstacle for citizen groups, as signatures can become invalid if someone moves or dies after signing a petition.
It costs millions of dollars to hold a special election like this one, so why has Ohio legislators pushed this forward? Well, Republican Senate President Matt Huffman said this would make it harder to amend the Ohio Constitution, which is what Ohio Republicans are focused on right now.
To be honest, Issue One isn’t really just about the voting threshold; it’s about abortion. In an article from the Ohio Capital Journal and WEWS, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said, “[Issue One is] 100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution.” By raising the voting threshold to 60%, it would be harder for abortion to become legally protected in the Ohio constitution. Additionally, Issue One may affect the passage of other issues like minimum wage, funding for schools or the recreational use of marijuana.
If Issue One doesn’t pass, it could be tried again. Another article from Ohio Capital Journal and WEWS reported Huffman said that is unlikely to happen.
When I began this column, I stated that “Claireification is not about what I think you should believe.” While that is still true, I implore our Ohio residents to vote on Issue 1 as it could change the course of what democracy looks like in Ohio. I would go so far as to say, this may be the blueprint for state governments to change democracy across the United States.
Unfortunately, we've already passed the deadline to register to vote, which was July 10. Still, there are some important dates to note for registered voters and WTOL identified some of those dates:
July 11: Absentee voting-by-mail and early in-person voting begins
Aug. 1: Absentee ballot applications must be received by county boards of elections by 8:30 p.m.
Aug. 7: Mailed absentee ballots must be postmarked by this date.
Aug. 8: Polls are open for the special election from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Absentee Ballots may be returned by mail or personally delivered to your county board of elections. If not returned by mail, absentee ballots must be received by your board of elections by 7:30 p.m.
Ohio University students looking to return to campus at the beginning of August may want to look into voting before the official voting day. Early in-person voting during July and Aug. are as follows:
July 11-14: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
July 17-21: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
July 24-28: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
July 31: 7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 1: 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Aug. 2-4: 7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 5: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Aug. 6: 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Claire Schiopota is a senior studying journalism. Please note that the opinions expressed in this column do not reflect those of The Post. Want Claire to cover a certain topic or talk about her column? Email her at cs123719@ohio.edu or tweet her @CSchiopota.
