Ohio voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it more difficult to change the state’s constitution, setting up a fall campaign that will become the nation’s latest referendum on abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned nationwide protections last year.
Abortion is the big ticket item and the headline isn’t wrong but it’s also more than that- it would’ve basically given the Ohio Republican Party power for decades. They already illegally gerrymander, etc. and this would’ve made them even more unaccountable.
- Current rules- 44 counties to get signatures, 10 day cure period to gather more if you fall short, 50+% to pass.
- Proposed rules- 5% from ALL 88 counties, no cure period, 60% to pass.
Essentially, grassroots initiatives already have a high hurdle and this would’ve made them effectively impossible. Only big moneyed interests could ever get anything on the ballot again.
Very, very happy it failed.
From my city’s Democrat group:
What landmark changes to Ohio law would have FAILED under Issue 1?
In just the 21st century:
- 2000: Clean Ohio Fund; state can sell enviro bonds (57% in favor…would have FAILED)
- 2005: Third Frontier program to modernize Ohio’s economy (54% in favor…would have FAILED)
- 2006: Increasing minimum wage (57% in favor…would have FAILED)
- 2009: Legalizing gambling at casinos in Cbus, CLE, Cincy, Toledo (53% in favor…would have FAILED)
- 2015: Barring businesses from using amendment process to form monopolies (51% in favor…would have FAILED)
Let’s go further back now:
- 1923: Remove the phrase “white male” from parts of the constitution describing VOTER ELIGIBILITY (56% in favor…would have FAILED)
- 1933: Giving counties authority to create city charters with “home rule” (53% in favor…would have failed)
- 1933: Set the 10-mill property tax limit that local governments can impose without getting approval from voters (59.7% in favor…would have FAILED)
- 1949: Ending the practice of straight-ticket voting; voters must mark their candidates, not just check off a party (57% in favor…would have failed)
- 1953: Creation of Ohio state school board, which advises local school districts on education policy (57% in favor…would have failed)
- 1953: Allowing People of Color to serve in the Ohio National Guard (57% in favor…would have failed)
- 1961: Allowing Women to serve in Ohio National Guard (50.1% in favor…would have failed)
- 1975: Allowing charitable orgs to run bingo games, a form of gambling (54% in favor…would have failed)
- 1978: Prison labor reform (54% in favor…would have failed)
- 1982: Enabled lower-interest, first-time home-buyer programs that continue today (57% in favor…would have failed)
- 1990: Tax credits and other steps to help finance housing projects (53% in favor…would have failed)
This is some great perspective on its effect, thank you.
Ohio is about to get real cool. The abortion vote is going to enshrine it in the Ohio consitution, but along side it, legal marijuana is also on the same ballot.
Go register and go vote!
If Ohio gets legal abortion and legal marijuana, I will officially declare that it lose it’s “most mediocre state” title
This. Is. Wendy’s!
Who’da thunk that making women have their rapists’ babies would be a nationally unpopular proposition? One could never have foreseen such a thing.
Issue 1 was bad and I’m glad to see that the voters rejected it. That they did highlights the growing disconnect from Republican politicians and Republican voters on key issues like Abortion and Marijuana.
It’s really spooky how the GOP doesn’t seem to really care about popular opinion anymore.
That doesn’t end anywhere good.
Ohio GOP hasn’t cared about the rule of law for as long as I can remember. More famously, they were ordered to draw fair voting maps multiple times running into 2016, and kept submitting maps that didn’t even come close to passing muster, including submitting the exact same map twice AND submitting the current voting map.
This goes beyond not caring about the rule of law - they don’t even care about what voters want! In a democracy that has consequences.
They seem to think that they’re beyond democratic accountability entirely and can ignore popular opinion and ignore voter support.
Fuck the GOP and fuck anyone who supports that trash.
Every time something doesn’t go their way, they change the rules.
This quote from the resident is spot on!
Vote this coming election and don’t let anyone tell you your vote doesn’t matter!
If it didn’t, the Republicans wouldn’t be trying bullshit like this!
#VOTE EVERY ELECTION!
Because fuck you, GOP. That’s why.
Always good for people when the GOP/Nazi party loses.
Also when they lose, but potato/tomato.
Way to go Ohio!
Keep up this energy!
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This isn’t just about abortion, I don’t get why all the headlines are focusing on that
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It’s really hard to see why this is a partisan issue, “let’s make it hard to change the constitution” doesn’t really sound like an inherently right-wing position.
The GOP regularly violates their own rules and norms whenever it suits them. Small government? Personal freedom?
Because it was pushed through as an august election not long after august elections were banned (due to high cost and low turnout), but almost immediately after legalizing abortion wound up on the November ballot. Sure it’s about more than abortion, but it’s also very much about abortion, otherwise it would’ve waited until November.
Hey! So I had just learned about the historically low turnout of August elections, but what is the high cost about?
Elections themselves are expensive affairs. Not just for the sides, but also for the host government. Worth it of course, but it’s a huge strain including shipping and hosting the ballots, machines, etc to every location. Add in that poll workers are paid. And it uses a ton of space. All for one yes or no question to be asked 3 months before all this was going to happen anyways. Elections happen on their own every year, that’s the default. And there’s usually one in the spring too. It’s one thing if it actually cannot wait, like if we were asking for a referendum on an ecological catastrophe or a Supreme Court shenanigan that opened up a stupid outdated law to happening with serious effect. But this, this absolutely was not worth the cost and could have waited 3 months unless your sole concern is to make abortion or marijuana harder to access in this state even if the majority of Ohioans want them.
Cool, thank you!
The high cost comes from having to mobilize polling locations, poll workers, logistics for voting infrastructure, ya know, all the stuff that goes into making an election happen.
Special elections like this need to have all the same setup as a general election, but since it’s focused around one (or a handful) of issues, AND the general election still has to take place in November, it’s pretty wasteful. I’ve seen the estimates are around $20-30 million to make a special election happen.
Cool, makes perfect sense. Thank you!
The reason people focus on the abortion angle is because there is a vote to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution in November. This bill would apply to that vote. It would also make it harder to try again and harder to have grassroots initiatives in general.
I wonder why changing the constitution is suddenly an issue the Ohio GOP wants to vote on…
Headlines are focusing on abortion because this proposal was very clearly meant to make it substantially harder for the later vote on an amendment to protect abortion rights to succeed. The GOP knows that, when put to a direct vote, at least 50% will vote for legal abortion. But in a state like Ohio, 60% just might be a realistic ceiling.
I mean, do you really think it was a coincidence that this proposal was done in this particular moment?
It’s because the majority of Americans are actually united on many issues. The chances an amendment passes with 51% is highly unlikely. So anything unconstitutional getting passed is a none issue. That’s why no abortion ban has made it to amendment status. Amendments override lower laws. So a body autonomy amendment would take all abortion bans of the table even when the state senate which in this case is held by the GOP despite not having the population vote.
It’s because the right want to make sure the people can’t go and do something like enshrine fundamental rights like reproductive freedom. Safe from their meddling
Amending the constitution is how states pass laws. This isn’t like the US constitution.
That and this issue was brought up by conservatives in proactive response to an abortion vote in November.
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