Supermajority
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 […]
How will two hot-button ballot initiatives impact Ohio’s November turnout?
Heading into this year’s election season, Ohio voters could wind up voting on two hot button issues at the same time. Election officials are currently combing through petitions for an abortion rights amendment and a recreational marijuana statute that could both go before voters in November. Received wisdom holds that those hot button ballot issues […]
Early voting begins for Issue 1 asking to make it harder for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution
Early voting began Tuesday for Issue 1, the amendment on the August 8 ballot requiring all future Ohio Constitutional amendments clear 60% for passage. Lawmakers put the proposal on the ballot, and they’ve faced criticism from the outset. Opponents argued — correctly — that lawmakers wanted to change the rules in order to undermine an […]
Columbus Metropolitan Club hosts debate over supermajority amendment
In Columbus on Wednesday, state Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, and former state representative and Dispatch editor Mike Curtin debated Issue 1. This August, Ohio voters will weigh whether to make it more difficult to amend the state constitution. McColley co-sponsored the legislation that sent the question to the ballot, and Curtin has been one of […]
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 […]
Ballot measure making it harder to amend Ohio’s Constitution facing second lawsuit
The organization One Person One Vote has filed a new Supreme Court case related to an August amendment proposal looking to make it more difficult to change Ohio’s constitution. The organization has already challenged lawmakers’ attempt to place the question, which would raise the bar for voters to pass amendments from 50% to 60%, on […]
Ohio Ballot Board approves language for August amendment proposal despite objections
The Ohio Ballot Board has approved language for an August ballot measure from Ohio Republican lawmakers. The proposal asks voters whether to make it harder to pass future constitutional amendments by requiring 60% of the vote. The board’s two Democrats and an outside organization currently suing to block the August election criticized the ballot language […]
Ohio Republicans choose to fight abortion amendment the hard way
Earlier this month the Ohio Republican Party central committee met in a downtown Columbus ballroom. The state party has a lot to celebrate. Republicans across the country underwhelmed in 2022, but not in Ohio. The GOP carried the big-ticket statewide races, won every state supreme court race and two ballot measures. But the prevailing mood […]
Ohio lawmakers send 60% supermajority amendment to the ballot
Wednesday, Ohio House lawmakers voted 62-37 to advance a resolution asking voters to raise the passage threshold for constitutional amendments. The vote caps off nearly six months of legislative wrangling largely meant to hobble an abortion rights amendment. Lawmakers are entering questionable legal territory, however, as they set the vote in August through the resolution […]
GOP plan to advance 60% amendment in August looking wobbly after second hearing cancelled
Hints of uncertainty are creeping into the Ohio House ahead of an effort toward a constitutional showdown. For the second time in as many days, the House Government Oversight committee canceled its hearing instead of voting on an August special elections measure. That legislation is crucial to a Republican ballot effort asking voters to make […]
Ohio House committee narrowly advances 60% supermajority provision despite opposition
In an Ohio House committee, witnesses pleaded with lawmakers to reject the effort to install a 60% threshold for future constitutional amendments. The joint resolution they’re considering would put the question to voters on an upcoming ballot. After breaking for an extended recess around lunch time, lawmakers heard more testimony and voted to advance the […]