06/20/2023

In Split Decision, Ohio Supreme Court Allows August Election to Go Forward

The ruling passed along party lines

Along party lines, the Ohio Supreme Court on Friday gave the green light to an attempt by Republican leaders of the state's gerrymandered legislature to make it much harder for voters to amend the state Constitution. The court ruled in a 4-3 decision that it is okay for the issue to be placed on the August 8 ballot even though the legislature just outlawed such elections in January.

The Republican majority said that regardless of the law, the Ohio Constitution gives the legislature great latitude in deciding when elections will be held. In a dissent, the Democratic minority argued that while that might be the case, the legislature still has to follow the laws it has passed — and change the ones it doesn't like.

Issue 1 would raise the percentage of votes needed to pass a voter-initiated amendment from 50 percent to 60 percent. It would also require that a given number of the hundreds of thousands of signatures needed to get an amendment on the ballot come from each of Ohio's 88 counties instead of the current 44.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Ohio Capital Journal.