(Initiated amendments are never on the ballot in such elections; by law, they may be submitted only at general elections.). Vote 'yes' on issue 1, Suddes: Republican lawmakers betting Ohioans won't vote in August, the Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board endorsed the idea, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. These are well-funded operations, often out of state, whether conservative or liberal, knowing they have to collect millions of signatures. Ohio amendment is vague, on purpose. The August ballot measure would see future amendment need at least 60% support to pass. Democratic Sen. Vernon Sykes actually co-chaired the bipartisan committee that recommended raising the threshold for adopting amendments to Ohios Constitution to at least 55%. All this because Republican lawmakers put an issue on the ballot that they supported just a short while ago. They contend that the ease of the initiative process has led to a bloated state constitution and that special interests have hijacked the constitution. The editorial board calls Ohio Republican legislators "untrustworthy and dishonest lawmakers""despicable and disappointing""dangerous and disingenuous""abhorrent" and "cowardly" because, they claim, we "are willing to lie to and cheat voters to win. Issue 1 would affect all proposals to amend Ohio's constitution A brief history of Ohio constitution amendments | News, Sports, Jobs Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board endorsed the idea, An end to majority rule in Ohio? For context, eight of the initiated amendments approved by Ohio voters since 1912 garnered less than 60% approval. But theyve cast the new 88-county requirement as ensuring that Ohioans in all 88 counties have a voice when it comes to potential amendments to the state constitution. Lawmakers included the 44-county requirement as a compromise between pro and anti-initiative factions when they developed the rules more than a century ago, according to a report from the Ohio Constitutional Revision Commission, which met in the 1970s. The 1851 Constitution with Amendments to 2015. Ohio GOP proposal require more votes to change Ohio constitution In the first statewide test following that decision, Kansas voters resoundingly protected abortion rights last August. `. Julie covers government and politics from Ohio. Relatively few races appear on the ballot for odd-year primary electionsthese ballots typically contain a small number of contested primary elections for municipal offices and a few local ballot measures, like tax levies. I will direct the boards of election to place the proposed amendment on the November 7, 2023 general election ballot, LaRose wrote in a letter Tuesday. Even in raising the percentage of votes required to pass amendments from 50% to 60%, Ohio's constitution would remain far easier to amend than the U.S. Constitution, which requires a two-thirds . Electors then have the option of voting for or against the issue. Unfortunately, this IP has been blocked due to suspicious activity. For a constitutional amendment, petitioners need a minimum number of signatures equal to at least 10% of the votes cast for governor statewide. On governance issues, Ohioans have used the initiative to impose term limits on elected officials, establish voter registration requirements, and allow counties to exercise home rule powers. During a November news conference unveiling the first version of what became State Issue 1, LaRose called changing the signature threshold a pretty blunt instrument.. Unlike some other state constitutions,15 Ohios does not explicitly address whether or how the General Assembly may alter a voter-approved initiated statute. No 21-000095-MM (July 19, 2022). http://archives.legislature.state.oh.us/res.cfm?ID=127_HJR_3. 15 See, e.g., Cal. View the entire Ohio Constitution in pdf format. Republican Gov. Some states dont have geographic requirements at all, including Arizona, California, Oklahoma, Oregon and South Dakota. OR. The board has done a complete about face. And of those that managed to make it to the ballot, only three were approved by the voters. The legislature wants to change our constitution so that a simple majority of . Secretary LaRose and Rep. Stewart have offered a few related reasons in support of their proposal. XLVIII, pt. The first petition serves to propose the law to the General Assembly for its consideration; this petition must be filed at least ten days before the commencement of any annual session of the General Assemblya deadline that typically falls in late-December. Historically, the General Assembly has almost entirely avoided submitting referred constitutional amendments to the voters at odd-year primary elections when little else is on the ballot. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Abortion rights amendment proposal qualifies for November ballot in Ohio We make sure theyre serious, because what makes it on the ballot, our members end up holding the bag, paying for the campaigns for or against these issues.. It was replaced four years later by the third ever initiated amendmenta statewide ban on alcohol sales. It did not recommend requiring signatures be collected from all 88 Ohio counties to get an issue on the ballot or eliminating time to make up for bad signatures. Const., art. Ohio Issue 1 originated in the General Assembly. Abortion messaging roils debate over Ohio ballot initiative. Backers It is unclear whether the Ohio Constitution would allow such meddling with initiated statutes. Derek Clinger, Senior Staff Attorney PDF Available Here. In the past 15 years, more than 60 campaigns have launched efforts to amend the Ohio Constitution through the initiative process. Ohio GOP advances making constitutional changes tougher Reports from the Ohio Secretary of States office, the Cleveland State University College of Law, and the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commissions Constitutional Revision and Updating Committee all have slightly different numbers. Ohio Constitution changes: A 67,000-word document just keeps growing The current going rate is $20 to $25 per signature if a campaign hires a paid petitioning firm, something thats increasingly common, said the operative, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. Bellwether? Ohio voters back abortion rights amendment in a test case If State Issue 1 is approved, Ohioans will still enjoy a freedom not available in the vast majority of other states that dont even permit petition-initiated constitutional amendments. Editor's note: In 2017 Ohio lawmakers considered changes to the constitutional amendment process. Ohioans will still be able to easily pass constitutional amendments that enjoy genuine broad and bipartisan support. And that would disadvantage those truly citizen groups that want to get out there with clipboards and make it happen.You may actually comparatively advantage the special interests because the special interests may be able to afford to pay $1 million, the $1.5 million, to hire more people with clipboards, LaRose said. The politicians in Columbus now want to take this weapon away from Ohioans by passing Issue 1 on the August 8 ballot. But he cited this low success rate as a reason to make the initiative process even more difficult. The proposal would impose a supermajority threshold for passing amendments by ballot initiative requiring at least 60% support from the state's . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Another problem with the initiated statute process is that it often takes significantly longer than the initiated amendment process. Angie Greer, the Columbus canvass director for Ohio Citizen Action, made sure residents had a voting plan for the Aug. 8 election. Colorado, which requires amendment campaigns to get signatures equal to 5% of the most recent election for Secretary of State, California and Oregon, which requires amendment campaigns to get signatures equal to 8% of the most recent election for governor, Florida, which requires campaigns get signatures equal to 8% of the most recent election for president, Arizona and Oklahoma, which require campaigns to get signatures equal to 15% of the most recent election for governor, By browsing this site, we may share your information with our social media partners in accordance with our. Ohio voters will decide in November whether to amend their state Constitution to establish a right to abortion, after state officials said on Tuesday that proponents had submitted . (That Californias ballot access rules are relatively loose a lower signature requirement without a geographic requirement are a likely factor why ballot campaigns have become so prevalent there.). Megan Jelinger / LightRocket via Getty Images file, a majority of Ohio voters oppose amending the constitution, Chris Christie sharpens jabs at Trump defenders in 2024 primary, Eyes on 2024: Trump on the trail amid possible indictment, Some Democratic groups, lawmakers frustrated with No Labels' third-party push, New Terms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023). Recent polling, however, found that a majority of Ohio voters oppose amending the constitution to make it . The new signature requirements would erect one of the biggest roadblocks in the country for citizens who want to change their state constitutions. This history indicates that if bloat is truly the concern, then the primary source of the problem is the General Assembly, not the people. Abortion rights amendment in Ohio at risk as Republicans try to change (AP Photo/Patrick Orsagos)(AP Photo/Patrick Orsagos). Legal Interpretation in State Courts: Judicial Perspectives, Rob Yablon on WPR: Professor Yablon comments on the long lasting effects of the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, strip the state board of education of most, the states troubled redistricting process, a limit on the amount of property taxes that can be imposed without, a requirement that revenues from fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees. Sykes is one of five Democratic lawmakers who submitted arguments against Issue 1 to the Ohio Secretary of State. Theyre describing this as just another hurdle for amendment campaigns, said Gabriel Mann, a spokesperson for Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, one of the campaign groups behind the potential abortion-rights ballot initiative in November. Despite the suggestion that the Ohio Constitution is full of amendments adopted through the initiative process, the truth is that the initiative process has been sparingly used by Ohioans to amend the state constitution, due in large part to the substantial hurdles described above. Recent examples of this include actions to reform the redistricting process, legalize medical marijuana, regulate puppy mills, and crack down on payday lending (among many others). It seems unlikely that it is a mere coincidence that the General Assembly has so rarely submitted referred amendments at odd-year primary elections. Text of Section 1: How Constitution to Be Amended; Ballot; Supreme Court to Hear Challenges. Voters adopted most of these amendments to create the basis of the constitution we have today. The measure, if voters approve it in August, would have profound implications for a potential abortion-rights amendment in November. Similar to the. Amy Natoce, press secretary for Protect Ohio Women, the opposition campaign, said the group will continue to shine a light on the ACLUs disastrous agenda until it is defeated in November. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio is on the November campaigns executive committee and serves as part of Ohioans United For Reproductive Rights legal team. Text of Section 1: Inalienable Rights. Ohio law does permit citizens to submit proposed laws first to the General Assembly for consideration and then to the voters for approval. Const., art. Shortly after the initiative and referendum powers were added to the Ohio Constitution, the Ohio Supreme Court celebrated their importance, describing the I. The higher requirement in Arkansas is the subject of a lawsuit though, given that voters in Arkansas rejected a 2020 proposal to increase the county requirement, which state officials there said at the time required a constitutional amendment. The proposal was unveiled during a busy lame-duck session of the Republican-controlled General Assembly that has also seen last-minute bills to rewrite the states election laws, including imposing a strict photo ID requirement for voting, and to strip the state board of education of most of its powers. Perhaps in response to these criticisms, Secretary LaRose suggested that Ohioans use the initiated statute process instead of the initiated amendment process to enact their preferred policies. The amendment, if approved, would elevate the standards by which the Constitution of the State of Ohio may be amended. Ohio has another process through which citizens can propose law changes called an initiated statute, but its possible for lawmakers to immediately repeal them. The General Assembly then has four months to consider the proposal. Huge majorityincluding a third of Republicansbacks abortion rights It is not apparent why the process should be made even harder. 2015); Farris ex rel. For one, the process requires 40% fewer signatures to initiate a statute than to initiate a constitutional amendment. But the proposal also would weed out potential citizen-initiated amendments by making it much harder for them to qualify for the ballot in the first place. It is not clear that this result was intentionalthe changed deadlines were touted as allowing more time to resolve legal challenges to petitionsbut it was certainly an effect. However, others say it would just make the process more expensive and laborious but not unattainable. The sponsors of the supermajority proposal contend that the Ohio Constitution should be more difficult to amend because the supposed ease of the current process has allowed it to be hijacked by special interests. This rationale does not hold up. Ohio Senate president: 'The rabid opposition to State Issue 1 is the Since 1913, the Ohio Constitution has allowed citizen groups to propose amendments to the state constitution. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. The secretary of state certified Tuesday that supporters had collected enough signatures to the ballot measure before voters. Either way, this amendment demonstrates that Ohioans have already safeguarded the state constitution from special interests that might attempt to use the initiative process to further their financial gainand they did so in a tailored manner that does not encumber their core constitutional right of initiative. Matt Huffman, R-Lima, is president of the Ohio Senate. Currently, a simple majority of voters needs to vote in favor to pass a constitutional amendment. Holding a statewide election in May 2023 might result in similar extra costs. 4 See Ohio Constitution, Article II, Section 1b, 1e, 1g. The vitriol is more than two-faced, it gets personal. Ultimately, the supermajority proposal seems to be driven mainly by a desire to prevent Ohio voters from adopting constitutional amendments that the proposals sponsors opposepart of a nationwide, multi-year trend to curtail direct democracy. Changing Ohio's constitution too easy. This could be an indication of the amendments success in scaring away similar proposals, though it may also reflect in part how difficult it is to amend the state constitution to begin with. Then, they must gather a minimum number of signatures for constitutional amendments, its a number equal to 10% of the most recent election for governor from voters in half of Ohios 88 counties. An abortion rights activist chants slogans on a megaphone at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, in 2019. Issue 1 an unprecedented affront to democracy, It is already hard enough to amendment Ohio's constitution, Stop the gaslighting. Three states set them by county, including Ohio. Ohio Constitution - Ballotpedia Ohioans are waking up to the dangers of the ACLUs anti-parent amendment and they are terrified and rightfully so, she said in a statement. This peculiar logic led one legal expert to describe the proposal as a solution in search of a problem., Secretary LaRose suggested that supermajority requirements for initiated amendments like his proposal are common, but only three of the 18 states with a constitutional initiative process have comparable requirements: Colorado requires an initiated amendment to receive 55% voter approval for passage;6 Florida requires 60% voter approval;7 and Illinois requires 60% approval for the measure or a majority of those voting in the election (not just on the measure itself).8. Abortion remains legal in the state up to 20 weeks gestation, under a judges order issued in a lawsuit challenging a ban once cardiac activity can be detected, or around six weeks into pregnancy, which is before many women know they are pregnant. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. That amendment did not last long. However, it's an open question how much support the amendment will need to pass, as Republican lawmakers have set a special election next month on whether to . This means that petitioners cannot gather all their signatures from Ohios densely populated cities but instead must collect from the sparsely populated areas, too.