HJR 6
Blame game: Issue 1 supporters pointing fingers after resounding loss
As the dust settled on election night, Republicans who led the push to restrict constitutional amendment initiatives with Issue 1 began making excuses, shifting blame and promising retribution. Instead of placing a period on a disappointing months-long campaign, they offered an ellipses — steadfastly refusing to acknowledge their effort was out of step with Ohio […]
Ohio’s Issue 1 goes down to defeat
The Republican-led effort to make amending Ohio’s constitution more difficult has failed. As of 11:45 p.m., unofficial results for the Aug. 8 special election show voters rejected Issue 1 57% to 43%. The Associated Press called the race at 9 p.m. While precincts were still reporting late into the night and absentee ballots will continue […]
Final early vote tally shows nearly 700,000 Ohioans have already voted
After nearly a year of political wrangling, Ohioans decide today whether to make it harder to both bring amendment proposals and to amend the state constitution. But many have already banked their votes. This year’s August special election — typically a sleepy, low turnout affair — has seen historic turnout already. Nearly 700,000 Ohioans cast […]
New voting locations pitch in for Ohio’s unexpected August election
On Tuesday, Ohioans head to the polls to vote on whether future constitutional amendments should face a heightened threshold for passage. But for some, the typical election day routine will look a tad different. To say Tuesday’s special election was unexpected is an understatement. Lawmakers scrapped such elections at the end of last year and […]
Ohio Libertarians allege Secretary of State LaRose mixing Issue 1 campaign with official duty
The Libertarian Party of Ohio has filed a complaint with federal officials alleging Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s Issue 1 advocacy violates the Hatch Act. The law prohibits employees and certain officeholders from using their authority to influence the outcome of an election. The complaint argues that because LaRose’s office administers federal election funds, his […]
Early vote figures continue their tear in Ohio’s August special election
Early vote totals, already surpassing expectations, have only accelerated as the August 8 election gets closer. Voters will determine whether it should be harder to approve future constitutional amendments. Through the first seven days, about 16,000 voters showed up to cast their ballots each day. Fourteen days in, however, that average has risen to more […]
Early votes cast in Ohio August election are blowing expectations out of the water
Early voting figures for the Ohio Aug. 8 special election are surpassing even the most optimistic expectations. Through seven days of early voting more than 116,000 Ohioans have shown up at their local board to cast a ballot. Another 38,000 have absentee ballots have made their way in as well. As Secretary of State Frank […]
One Toledo law professor is helping drive two of this year’s most controversial proposals in Ohio
Since introducing a plan last year to make it harder to amend the Ohio Constitution, supporters have insisted their proposal was an issue-neutral effort to protect the state’s founding document. But advocates for a new 60% threshold for constitutional amendments have repeatedly hewed toward a variety of very specific issues: Firearms groups worried about future […]
Ohio Ballot Board approves language for 60% amendment proposal along party lines, again
One day after an Ohio Supreme Court ruling, the Ohio Ballot Board revised the language for State Issue 1, the Aug. 8 proposal asking voters to require future constitutional amendments clear a 60% supermajority for passage. The court ordered board members to fix inaccuracies in the ballot language they adopted about a month ago. And […]
Ohio House lawmakers consider Senate version of supermajority resolution
Ohio House lawmakers took up the Senate version of a measure asking voters to raise the threshold for future constitutional amendments. The House’s version of the proposal is already awaiting a floor vote. The jousting between sponsors or supporters and the Democratic members attempting to forestall the measure covered familiar territory. But a few new […]
Constitutional amendments and initiated statutes: one question or two?
During the most recent hearing for SJR 2 — the Ohio Senate resolution to establish a 60% supermajority for constitutional amendments — Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, made an interesting assertion. “I personally — not speaking on behalf of any other senator or the caucus — am not opposed to a conversation to make the statutory […]
Ohio Senate begins hearings for supermajority amendment, August elections
Ohio state senators began hearings Tuesday for their measure to impose a 60% supermajority to pass constitutional amendments. If the proposal passes both chambers with the support three-fifths of members, it goes to the ballot. The sponsors of the resolution are also backing a bill to revive August elections — just in time for their […]