{"id":9148,"date":"2023-08-03T16:32:26","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T16:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=9148"},"modified":"2023-08-03T16:34:41","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T16:34:41","slug":"commentary-key-ohio-leaders-oppose-issue-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/03\/commentary-key-ohio-leaders-oppose-issue-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Commentary: Key Ohio Leaders Oppose Issue 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By DemocracyIssues.com, an Ohio-based Voter Rights initiative<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Over 250+ organizations in Ohio have organized to oppose Issue 1<\/p>\n

In spite of Ohio voters passing a Constitutional Amendment in 2015 to end
\ngerrymandering, and in spite of multiple Ohio Supreme Court orders to do so,
\nthe GOP-controlled Ohio Redistricting Commission has ignored and refused to
\nremove the current gerrymandered district maps.<\/p>\n

The law in Ohio and many other states permits ordinary citizens the right to
\norganize and place a ballot issue before voters to change the state’s
\nconstitution. With this right, if citizens believe that a law needs to
\nchange, they can undertake a Constitutional Amendment by placing a ballot
\nissue on an upcoming election through a very challenging process.<\/p>\n

Major Ohio Voter Rights organizations and many of their supporters are
\ncurrently examining an effort to organize a Constitutional Amendment to end
\ngerrymandering in the state. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that gerrymandered
\ndistricts are unconstitutional since they deprive many voters of their right
\nto vote by rigging in advance the outcome of an election in favor of the
\npolitical party in control of setting up the district maps.<\/p>\n

This is the reason why Ohio Voter Rights organizations are exploring another
\ncitizen-led Constitutional Amendment that would permanently end
\ngerrymandering.<\/p>\n

In order to insure in the future that a citizen-led ballot issue does not
\nsucceed in ending gerrymandered election districts, Ohio Politicians passed
\nlegislation and then placed Issue 1 on the ballot that will make it almost
\nimpossible to pass a new Constitutional Amendment.<\/p>\n

One of the requirements of Issue 1 is to raise the threshold for passage
\nfrom the current 50 percent of the votes, to instead, 60 percent. \u00a0This will permit a minority of 40 percent of the voters to control the outcome of any citizen-led ballot issue.<\/p>\n

As soon as Ohio law makers introduced the legislation in the General
\nAssembly behind Issue 1, over 250+ organizations joined a coalition to
\noppose this proposed Constitutional Amendment.<\/p>\n

Past Ohio governors oppose Issue 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

An article published on June 27, 2023 by Avery Kreemer in the Dayton Daily
\nNews was titled Former Gov. Taft: Issue 1 is ‘state leaders trying to game
\nthe system– and it stated:<\/p>\n

“A former Republican Ohio governor (Bob Taft) has taken to the road to
\nrestate his opposition to State Issue 1, the proposal to make it harder to
\namend the state constitution . . .<\/p>\n

“This is a fundamental change in Ohio’s voting rights,” Taft said,
\nleaders-trying-to-game-the-system, according to
\nthe Dayton Daily News . . . “I just think it’s a major mistake to approve or
\ndisapprove such a change at the lowest-turnout election (August) that we
\nhave.”<\/p>\n

In an article in the Toledo Blade by Jim Provance, comments from former
\nRepublican Governor John Kasich were shared:<\/p>\n

“John Kasich, Republican governor from 2011 to 2019, tweeted that it would
\nnever have occurred to him to try such a move.<\/p>\n

“Ohio is stronger when we can all lend our voices and we all have an equal
\nchance to participate in the work of our state’s democracy.”<\/p>\n

Provance also shared comments from former Democratic Governor Ted
\nStrickland:<\/p>\n

“Ted Strickland, Democratic governor from 2007 to 2011, told The Blade the
\nmaneuver is “dishonorable, despicable, and hypocritical.”<\/p>\n

“Just a few months have passed since they passed legislation regarding
\nAugust initiatives being prohibited except in rare circumstances, and now,
\nwhen they are afraid that Ohio women are going to establish in our
\nconstitution their right to control their own bodies, they are in a panic,”
\nhe said. “They want to keep that from happening. “Everybody knows what is
\nhappening.”<\/p>\n

In addition to the strong opposition by former Governors Bob Taft, John
\nKasich, and Ted Strickland, a fourth former Ohio Governor, Dick Celeste, has
\nalso voiced strong opposition to Issue 1.<\/p>\n

Past Ohio Attorney Generals oppose Issue 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

Five former Ohio Attorney Generals (Richard A. Cordray, Lee I. Fisher, Betty
\nD. Montgomery, James M. Petro and Nancy H. Rogers) came together and issued
\na strongly worded joint letter opposing Issue 1:<\/p>\n

“. . . If the increase in the passing percentage had been in effect, many
\nimportant amendments that are part of our political heritage would have
\nfailed, including the initiative and referendum, home rule, civil service
\nreform, the Clean Ohio Fund, the Third Frontier Project, and other important
\nbond issues to support economic development, conservation, and housing.<\/p>\n

“. . . The 60% proposal is bad for Ohio, and the General Assembly should not
\nplace this proposal on the ballot; but if they do, Ohio voters should reject
\nthis effort to change a fundamental element of our state constitution that
\nhas been in effect for more than 100 years.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By DemocracyIssues.com, an Ohio-based Voter Rights initiative Over 250+ organizations in Ohio have organized to oppose Issue 1 In spite of Ohio voters passing a Constitutional Amendment in 2015 to end gerrymandering, and in spite of multiple Ohio Supreme Court orders to do so, the GOP-controlled Ohio Redistricting Commission has ignored and refused to remove […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[186],"class_list":["post-9148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9148"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9152,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9148\/revisions\/9152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9148"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=9148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}