Letter: Urges no vote on Issue 1

To the Editor:

I took advantage of early voting last week so that I could verify what I had heard about Issue 1 (the only thing on the ballot). Sure enough, we are being asked to surrender our right to improve the government through citizens’ initiatives.

Please read the attached letter, which contains the current language of the Ohio Constitution and the proposed changes to it, exactly as they appear on the ballot. You will see the outrageous trick that is being played on us, craftily inserted in a special election when voters tend to stay at home. Those in favor of this ploy will not stay at home; of that you can be sure.

Please vote NO on Issue 1! An affirmative vote amounts to self-castration.

Tom Copeland

Youngstown

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July 17, 2023

– ADVERTISEMENT –

My friends:

This morning I voted early in the special August 8 election. I have to report that the language of Issue 1 is misleading. Comparing it to the current language in Ohio’s Constitution, which you can do for yourself below, reveals that the purpose of Issue 1 is to strip us, the voters (also called “electors” in the document), of our ability to propose new laws and to repeal old ones. If you vote in favor of Issue 1, here’s what you’ll get:

1. From 2024 on, any citizens’ initiative on the ballot will require a 60% vote to pass. Currently it needs only 50% plus 1.
2. A proposal to place an initiative on the ballot must be signed by at least 5% of the voters in every county in Ohio. Currently all we need is signatures from 10% of all voters in the state. This change means that if even a single county cannot provide signatures from at least 5% of its registered voters, the proposal will not come before us for a vote—not even if 100% of the voters in the rest of the state signed the petition.
3. No additional signatures may be added after the deadline for submission of the proposal. Currently the signatures are counted after submission and if there are too few, the proposers are allowed ten days to find more.

Proponents of Issue 1 claim that it will make governing more efficient, and it surely will free our representatives from interference from us. Disenfranchising the electorate makes life for tyrants and oligarchs a lot simpler!

It is probably worth mentioning that the claim on the ballot that the issue affects Article II (1b) is not accurate. It actually affects Article II (1a), not (1b). It also affects Article 1e (B)(2)(c), but it does not affect Article XIV, which is about the treatment of livestock.

The Language of Issue 1

Proposed by Joint Resolution of the General Assembly

To amend Sections 1b, 1c, and 1g of Article II and Sections 1 and 3 of Article XIV of the Constitution of the State of Ohio

A majority yes vote is necessary for the amendment to pass. The proposed amendment would:

• Require that any proposed amendment to the Constitution of the State of Ohio receive the approval of at least 60 percent of eligible voters voting on the proposed amendment [to pass it. Compare §1e (B)(2)(c).]
• Require that any initiative petition filed on or after January 1, 2024 with the Secretary of State proposing to amend the Constitution of the State of Ohio be signed by at least five percent of the electors of each county based on the total vote in the county for governor in the last preceding election.
• Specify that additional signatures may not be added to an initiative petition proposing to amend the Constitution of the State of Ohio that is filed with the Secretary of State on or after January 1, 2024 proposing to amend the Constitution of the State of Ohio.

Current Language in the Constitution of Ohio

§1a Initiative and referendum to amend constitution.

§1a The first aforestated power reserved by the people is designated the initiative, and the signatures of ten per centum of the electors shall be required upon a petition to propose an amendment to the constitution.

§1b When at any time, not less than ten days prior to the commencement of any session of the general assembly, there shall have been filed with the secretary of state a petition signed by three per centum of the electors and verified as herein provided, proposing a law, the full text of which shall have been set forth in such petition, the secretary of state shall transmit the same to the general assembly as soon as it convenes.

§1c The second aforestated power reserved by the people is designated the referendum, and the signatures of six per centum of the electors shall be required upon a petition to order the submission to the electors of the state for their approval or rejection, of any law, section of any law or any item in any law appropriating money passed by the general assembly.

§1e (B)(2)(c) If both questions are approved or affirmed by a majority of the electors voting on them, then the constitutional amendment shall take effect. If only one question is approved or affirmed by a majority of the electors voting on it, then the constitutional  amendment shall not take effect.

§1g . . . If the petitions or signatures are determined to be insufficient, ten additional days shall be allowed for the filing of additional signatures to such petition. If additional signatures are filed, the secretary of state shall determine the sufficiency of those additional signatures not later than sixty-five days before the election.

Article XIV: Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board [?????] [Only Section 1 exists; sections 2-3 have been repealed.]

Youngstown