Issue 1 'a brazen partisan power play' that strips power from voters

Frank LaRose recently said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if voter turnout in the Aug. 8 election proves no better than a year ago, when the mark was a dismal 8 percent. Of course, he said that.

The Ohio secretary of state has been a fountain of mixed messages in his leading role as an advocate for state Issue 1. In March, he suggested turnout would surge because of the significant constitutional question on the ballot.

Then, LaRose was pushing to make the ballot. Now, he and his allies are hoping to slip the measure past distracted Ohio voters.

Issue 1 would raise the threshold for approving citizen-initiated constitutional amendments from the current simple majority (50% plus 1) to a supermajority of 60%. It also would stiffen the already challenging signature requirements and end the “cure” period, the 10 days permitted to replace faulty signatures.

At the start, LaRose insisted the proposal promotes good government, the state constitution cluttered with amendments better conceived as statutes. Focus on the long run, he advised, especially in preventing “special interests” from exploiting this path to getting their way.

Soon, the high-minded gloss faded. The true motivation, or what practically everyone suspected, emerged: This was about the Republican majorities at the Statehouse gumming up the effort to win passage in November of a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment to protect reproductive rights.

Polls show a large majority of Ohioans support such an amendment, though the percentage falls short of 60.

More, LaRose has campaigned lately with a top anti-abortion lobbyist.

That’s not to say friends of Issue 1 have cast aside claims about serving the greater good. Consider the signage: “Protect Our Constitution.” Or the ballot language: “Elevating the standards.” They talk about empowering the people and ensuring constitutional changes are widely accepted.

Don’t be fooled. This is a brazen partisan power play, put together in haste as abortion rights advocates began gathering petition signatures.

Issue 1 wouldn’t protect the constitution, or elevate the process. The power of Ohioans would be diminished, say, a 55% percent majority no longer carrying the day. The minority would see its role enhanced, a hair above 40 percent enough to defeat a proposal.

Mike Curtin, a former editor of the Columbus Dispatch and once a state representative, has made a mission of reminding Ohioans why the citizen initiative and the simple majority landed in the constitution. He explains that those attending the 1912 state constitutional convention wanted to restore balance to a Statehouse driven by trusts, monopolies and other mighty players, public business drenched in corruption.

Thus, the citizen initiative works as a tool for Ohioans to hold the Statehouse directly accountable. It matters that a simple majority prevails, the wishes of the people thwarted, and accountability lost, when something more is required. It matters, too, that this is the great American idea, power residing with the people, the constitution a reflection of their will.

Today, the huge Republican majorities at the Statehouse amount to monopoly power. True, they were elected, yet in gerrymandered districts designed to secure the seats necessary to hold near-complete sway. They don’t seem embarrassed by scandal, from the Larry Householder mess to the tens of millions in public money poured into a failed online charter school.

Two Republican governors have proposed modest steps to slow gun violence. In response, Republican lawmakers have eased gun restrictions. What if citizens mount an effort along the lines favored by the governors, demand the proposal reach 60%?

It should be decisive that former governors and state attorneys general, Democrats and Republicans, have declared their opposition to Issue 1. Bob Taft notes that two signature initiatives of enduring value to the state, the Third Frontier Project and the Clean Ohio Fund, passed yet short of 60%.

The same goes for the 10-mill limit on unvoted property taxes and home rule for counties.

Dick Celeste captured the slipperiness of Issue 1 supporters: They’re content with needing a simple majority of voters to alter a century-old precedent and impose a supermajority threshold going forward. Celeste asks: Why not 60% for you, too?

Recall that LaRose, Gov. Mike DeWine, Matt Huffman, the Senate president, and Bob Cupp, then the House speaker, paid little heed to a redistricting amendment approved by 70% of voters.

Just six months ago, LaRose and fellow Republicans essentially ended August elections, arguing they are wasteful and unrepresentative. Now, they’re OK with deciding this big constitutional measure.

Fortunately, Ohio voters have a practice of rejecting citizen-initiated constitutional amendments, one count citing just one-quarter passing since the 1950s, hardly a case of voters gone wild. Let’s hope the skepticism holds in this instance. Don’t let Aug. 8 pass without doing your part to uphold direct accountability.

Douglas was the Beacon Journal editorial page editor from 1999 to 2019. He can be reached at mddouglasmm@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Issue 1 'a brazen partisan power play' that strips power from voters