What supporters, opponents are saying about Issue 1 on Ohio's August ballot

Haley BeMiller and Anna Staver, The Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·4 min read
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Protesters convene inside the Ohio Statehouse in May prior to the deadline for the Ohio House to decide whether to create an August special election for Issue 1.
Protesters convene inside the Ohio Statehouse in May prior to the deadline for the Ohio House to decide whether to create an August special election for Issue 1.

Ohio is weeks away from an election that could transform how the state constitution gets changed.

Voters will decide Aug. 8 whether to support Issue 1, a proposal that would make it harder to amend the constitution. Specifically, it would require 60% of the vote to enact new amendments − instead of a simple majority − and citizens would need to gather more signatures to place a proposal on the ballot.

Early voting has already started.

Ohio Issue 1: What you need to know about Ohio's August special election

The USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau invited a supporter and opponent to discuss Issue 1 on the Ohio Politics Explained podcast: Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, and Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio.

Here are some highlights from the interviews. You can listen to both episodes on this newspaper's website, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Why should someone vote yes?

Stewart: Ohio's Constitution should be protected in much the same way as the federal constitution. Don't allow for outside special interests and monied interests to essentially buy a spot on the ballot to attempt to change public policy, and sometimes − in too many instances in Ohio − pursuing policies to benefit themselves first and Ohioans a distant second. A constitution is supposed to be made up of the broad ideas that unite us. It should not be a vehicle for the fringe ideas that divide us. A constitution is the broad parameters of government. Everything else, we believe, should be subject mostly to the give and take of a legislature, the checks and balances that come in with that legislative process.

Why should someone vote no?

Miller: It's unfair, it's undemocratic and it's unnecessary. It's already incredibly hard to amend the constitution. It's not overused. This would end majority rule, in which 40% of voters could block what the majority of Ohioans want. And it also would make it incredibly hard just to get an issue on the ballot, because we would have even more arduous signature requirements.

Is this about the potential November ballot initiative on abortion and reproductive rights?

Stewart: There are a whole host of issues that we know are coming down the pike. As I mentioned, this is a change in tactics nationally. This is an effort to raise outside-of-Ohio money and then come to Ohio and try to buy policy in the state that I think is contrary to what the elected legislature would elect. We know that's coming on a whole host of issues. I think it's entirely reasonable, knowing that that's on the horizon for this November, next November and so forth, to ask Ohioans to say wait, we're going to have an election to decide the rules of the game. ... That applies to abortion, that applies to redistricting, that applies to wage hikes, that applies to qualified immunity.

Miller: I think this is completely about abortion and completely about other things as well. The only reason to rush an August election is this idea that an abortion amendment would be harder to pass in the fall. But we need to keep in mind that this is a tradition that Ohioans have had for over a century. When we got the right to amend the constitution, even Teddy Roosevelt came to the Ohio Statehouse because our Ohio Statehouse was so corrupt, and the idea being that Ohioans needed the ability to pass policies that better our lives. We needed the ability to check the power of corrupt state government. And so, yes, this is about abortion. If someone is anti abortion, they should vote no, but that doesn't mean we should change the rules of the game for all of us.

Should Ohio change the initiated statute process instead?

Stewart: I've said from the beginning I'm open to beefing up the initiated statute process. I think that it is a bit of a separate question from what we're going to do in our constitution. I do think that if we get a law wrong in the General Assembly, we can fix it, we can change it the next day, essentially. If we get something wrong in our constitution, we're essentially stuck with it forever.

Miller: If we want to protect the Constitution, Issue 1 in August is not it. All it does is make the constitution for sale to only those who have the deepest pockets. The best way to protect the Ohio Constitution, and at the same time preserve the rights of Ohio citizens to make policies that improve our lives, would be to improve this citizen initiated process through fewer signatures and what would be a safe haven − so if Ohio voters approve a policy overwhelmingly, the Legislature would not be able overturn that within so many years.

Read more about Issue 1 and the August election

Haley BeMiller and Anna Staver are reporters for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Issue 1: What supporters, critics say about Ohio August election