.png){kind=icon}
Administrator- Joined
- May 11, 2013
- Posts
- 24,887
- Reaction score
- 13,613
- Points
- 2,755
- Location
- Morganton, N.C.
- Website
- conversations-ii.freeforums.net
(The Guardian) Ohio votes in proxy battle over abortion rights
The state of Ohio is holding an unusual special election in the middle of the summer today, where voters are being asked what seems like a fairly innocuous question: should the bar for changing the state constitution via a ballot initiative be raised to 60% support, from its current simple majority? But the measure, which would also increase the number of signatures required for campaigners to get an initiative on the ballot, is, in fact, a Republican-backed attempt to undermine a constitutional amendment protecting abortion access that is expected to go to voters in November. If the measure up for consideration today, known as Issue 1, succeeds, it could make it much more difficult for the abortion amendment to qualify for the ballot.
Republicans dominate the state government in right-leaning Ohio, and even before Roe v Wade was overturned, passed a law restricting the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, though its implementation is currently blocked by a judge’s ruling. But even in red states, reproductive rights advocates and their Democratic allies have seen success in protecting abortion at the ballot box, and they’re hoping to repeat that today.
Both abortion rights and democracy at stake in Ohio election
If voters today approve Issue 1, the Republican-backed measure that would make it harder to change Ohio’s state constitution via the popular vote, the impacts will extend beyond abortion rights.
While Issue 1’s passage would make it much more difficult for a constitutional amendment protecting access to the procedure to qualify for the November ballot, it would also help the state’s Republican lawmakers protect their political power. How? The Guardian’s Sam Levine explains: Currently, Ohio requires activists to get a certain number of signatures on petitions, both statewide and in 44 of 88 counties, to send an amendment to the ballot. In each of the 44 counties, the total number of signatures needs to be equivalent to 5% of the vote in that county in the last gubernatorial race. Statewide, the total has to be equivalent to 10% of the same.
Issue 1, the only question on Tuesday’s ballot, would make that process considerably harder. It would require supporters to get the signatures in all 88 counties and then obtain a 60% supermajority for an amendment to pass.
The vote comes just three months before Ohio is to rule on a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights in November. Republicans have openly said that Issue 1 is an attempt to block the abortion measure from passing.
The vote is also an effort to preserve Republican political power in Ohio. Activists in the state are crafting a constitutional amendment that would strip state lawmakers of their ability to draw electoral districts and hand it over to an independent commission instead. Last year, Republicans repeatedly ignored rebukes from the supreme court calling for the redrawing of district lines because they were too distorted in favor of Republicans. Republicans eventually ran out the clock, preserved their supermajority in the state legislature, and then used that supermajority to refer Issue 1 to the ballot.
Polling has been limited and it is difficult to predict the results of a ballot referendum. The average of three polls, all of which have slightly different wording, have shown 35% of Ohioans support the change, 45% oppose it, and 20% aren’t sure, according to FiveThirtyEight. Similar measures to raise the threshold for constitutional amendments in other states have failed in recent years, the outlet noted.
If the measure passes, opponents say, it would effectively institute minority rule in Ohio. Supporters say it should be harder for citizens to amend the state constitution. That argument is not supported by data – roughly 75% of the citizen-initiated constitutional amendments over the last century have failed. Ohio also allows the legislature to send constitutional amendments to the ballot and voters have approved 106 out of 157 since 1914, according to cleveland.com.
The state of Ohio is holding an unusual special election in the middle of the summer today, where voters are being asked what seems like a fairly innocuous question: should the bar for changing the state constitution via a ballot initiative be raised to 60% support, from its current simple majority? But the measure, which would also increase the number of signatures required for campaigners to get an initiative on the ballot, is, in fact, a Republican-backed attempt to undermine a constitutional amendment protecting abortion access that is expected to go to voters in November. If the measure up for consideration today, known as Issue 1, succeeds, it could make it much more difficult for the abortion amendment to qualify for the ballot.
Republicans dominate the state government in right-leaning Ohio, and even before Roe v Wade was overturned, passed a law restricting the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, though its implementation is currently blocked by a judge’s ruling. But even in red states, reproductive rights advocates and their Democratic allies have seen success in protecting abortion at the ballot box, and they’re hoping to repeat that today.
Both abortion rights and democracy at stake in Ohio election
If voters today approve Issue 1, the Republican-backed measure that would make it harder to change Ohio’s state constitution via the popular vote, the impacts will extend beyond abortion rights.
While Issue 1’s passage would make it much more difficult for a constitutional amendment protecting access to the procedure to qualify for the November ballot, it would also help the state’s Republican lawmakers protect their political power. How? The Guardian’s Sam Levine explains: Currently, Ohio requires activists to get a certain number of signatures on petitions, both statewide and in 44 of 88 counties, to send an amendment to the ballot. In each of the 44 counties, the total number of signatures needs to be equivalent to 5% of the vote in that county in the last gubernatorial race. Statewide, the total has to be equivalent to 10% of the same.
Issue 1, the only question on Tuesday’s ballot, would make that process considerably harder. It would require supporters to get the signatures in all 88 counties and then obtain a 60% supermajority for an amendment to pass.
The vote comes just three months before Ohio is to rule on a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights in November. Republicans have openly said that Issue 1 is an attempt to block the abortion measure from passing.
The vote is also an effort to preserve Republican political power in Ohio. Activists in the state are crafting a constitutional amendment that would strip state lawmakers of their ability to draw electoral districts and hand it over to an independent commission instead. Last year, Republicans repeatedly ignored rebukes from the supreme court calling for the redrawing of district lines because they were too distorted in favor of Republicans. Republicans eventually ran out the clock, preserved their supermajority in the state legislature, and then used that supermajority to refer Issue 1 to the ballot.
Polling has been limited and it is difficult to predict the results of a ballot referendum. The average of three polls, all of which have slightly different wording, have shown 35% of Ohioans support the change, 45% oppose it, and 20% aren’t sure, according to FiveThirtyEight. Similar measures to raise the threshold for constitutional amendments in other states have failed in recent years, the outlet noted.
If the measure passes, opponents say, it would effectively institute minority rule in Ohio. Supporters say it should be harder for citizens to amend the state constitution. That argument is not supported by data – roughly 75% of the citizen-initiated constitutional amendments over the last century have failed. Ohio also allows the legislature to send constitutional amendments to the ballot and voters have approved 106 out of 157 since 1914, according to cleveland.com.
