MANSFIELD — The League of Women Voters, which celebrated its 100th birthday in 2020, has long claimed to be a bipartisan political organization that doesn’t take positions on candidates or issues.
But it’s making an exception with State Issue 1, the sole issue on the statewide special election ballot on Aug. 8.
Issue 1 is a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that would make it more difficult to amend the constitution going forward, requiring 60 percent voter approval in the future, rather than the simple majority vote required today, among other things.
Jen Miller, a Shelby native and the League of Women Voters Ohio executive director, was in Mansfield on Thursday evening to speak with Richland County Democrats and urge them to reject the issue.
Despite speaking at the local Democratic Party headquarters in downtown Mansfield, Miller said the league’s stance is not a partisan effort.
“I think this is what I would call a tri-partisan movement where we have Republicans, Democrats, and neutral groups like (the League of Women Voters) opposed, as well as minor party individuals,” Miller said.
“Keep in mind that all four living governors, Republican and Democrat, are opposed. We have five former attorneys general, Republican and Democrat, who are opposed,” she said.
“Maureen O’Connor, who just stepped down from the (Ohio) Supreme Court as the longest serving woman in office, who is a Republican, is also opposed.”
She said Issue 1 goes beyond the question of abortion. The issue gives voters a chance to make amending the constitution more difficult — just three months before a pro-choice group plans to have its own abortion-related amendment issue on the ballot.
“I think it’s utterly shameful to change the rules of the game when we’ve had this freedom (to amend the state constitution) for over a century,” Miller said. “We know that some of the best policies that we’ve passed here in Ohio have been done for and by the people through Constitutional amendments.
“Sure, it’s about abortion issues, but it’s about so much more. It’s also about statewide bond issues that create jobs. It’s about the ability of everyday Ohioans to pass policies when the Ohio statehouse does not act in our best interest.
“Our ability to amend the Constitution came in 1912 at a point when the Ohio statehouse was incredibly corrupt. Even Teddy Roosevelt came to Ohio, advocating that the people of Ohio have the citizens’ initiative because it’s a powerful check on power and it ensures that everyday people can have the freedom to make policies that benefit us when politicians are failing us,” Wilson said.
Supporters of State Issue 1 include Republican lawmakers and other statewide elected officials, as well as groups like the Ohio Farm Bureau, the Buckeye Firearms Association, the Ohio Restaurant Association and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
They maintain the amendment is needed to big-money, special interest groups coming from outside the state seeking to easily change Ohio’s founding document.
Supporters maintain the state’s constitution is the essential framework of the state and changing it should be harder to do.
Some have cited what the Founding Fathers required for changes to the U.S. Constitution. To amend it requires a 2/3 vote of both chambers of Congress and a vote of 3/4 of state legislatures.
“Our Founding Fathers ensured that the United States Constitution would be protected against outside influence and special interests by requiring a supermajority vote for amendments,” Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) said when he proposed the amendment in January.
“We can and should protect the Ohio Constitution in a similar way.”
Wilson said supporters are wrong to compare the state constitution with the U.S. Constitution.
“The U.S. Constitution is designed to be very limited in scope because it is a Federalist document. It is giving most of the powers and authorities to the states,” Wilson said. “For example, the U.S. Constitution says nothing about education. It says nothing about a lot of things because it’s up to the states to do that.
“That’s why it needs to be easier to amend the Ohio Constitution. It’s the peoples’ document. It needs to be a living, breathing document that we can influence and change as citizens.”
Changes to our Federal Constitution and/or individual State Constitutions should not be taken lightly and I believe requiring a 60% vote to pass any changes is the right way to go especially in these perilous times we find ourselves living in.