Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal Issue 1, a ballot initiative that asks Ohio voters if the state should strengthen the petition process and raise the threshold to 60% for approving constitutional amendment proposals, has the support of Ohio Farm Bureau.
“Our members created policies through our grassroots process which strongly supports these proposed constitutional changes,” said Adam Sharp, executive vice president of Ohio Farm Bureau. “Making the process of amending Ohio’s Constitution more fair and thoughtful is something our members think is important and this resolution will accomplish just that.”
The ballot measure will be part of a special election Aug. 8. If passed, the resolution will raise the threshold for approving constitutional amendments to 60% and also will modify the requirements for the petition process for proposals to change the constitution, requiring no less than 5% of the electors represented from every county of the state to sign a petition. Currently, signatures must be gathered for only 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Additionally, the initiative would eliminate a 10-day period that petitioners are granted to replace any invalid signatures. Notably, Issue 1 only applies to constitutional changes, and the initiated petition process to amend Ohio law remains unchanged.
“Ohio voters, no matter which county they are from, have differing ideas when they head to the polls, so leaving half of the state’s counties out of the petition process for any statewide constitutional amendment change doesn’t seem right,” Sharp said. “This isn’t about one single social issue for our members. It is about getting all corners of the state involved when a constitutional amendment that would impact all Ohioans is at stake. For too long, many of Ohio’s rural communities have been overlooked and not had a voice on what amendments to the constitution may be considered.”
The passage of this issue would also protect Ohio agriculture and the state’s food security by having a more thoughtful approach to amending the Ohio Constitution. In recent years, efforts have been made by outside special interest groups to push anti-agricultural initiatives to make it more difficult to produce food in the U.S. and incentivize imports from other countries. As a result, the U.S. has seen historic agricultural trade surpluses shift to trade deficits, which directly impacts Ohio Farm Bureau members and family farms across the country.
I’m very concerned that this bill will put power into a minority of governing hands instead of a simple majority. (Would this initiative be supported in Ohio if we had Democratic control instead of current Republican?) It reminds me of the 3/5 compromise in the 1787 Constitutional Conventional. What if we needed a 60% vote to pass school levies? to elect government officials? Very rarely, do we see a election receive 60% majority. To be clear, this initiative is all about banning abortion . . . . with the goal that a special election will provide a very small, favorable turnout at the polls. (just my 2 cents). PS. I am in favor of education for birth control but knowing that “people will be people”, there will be pregnancies. Family and doctors are where this should be handled. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/03/07/as-abortion-measures-loom-gop-raises-new-barriers-to-ballot-initiatives/ You can “google search” for many opinions on this initiative. I support NO on August 8. Please vote.
I believe you are confused on the merits of this issue. The measure needs to pass.
Terrible idea to support this anti-democratic proposal. The Farm Bureau should represent real Ohioans not the ruling Republican elite in Columbus.
Shameful
This initiative is a great start but really doesn’t go far enough. Amending the state constitution should be really hard to do. Much of what’s wrong with California is because it’s too easy for big money special interest groups to convince a simple majority of voters to pass their hare-brained ballot issues. Imagine if the US Constitution could be amended by a simple majority vote. It’d be a federal crime to use disposable shopping bags, plastic straws, or drive anything but electric cars. All guns would be illegal, college would be free, healthcare would be free, and our cities would be open drug markets. Big money special interest groups shouldn’t have the power to purchase the votes of a simple majority to change a constitution. A constitution, by its very nature should be very difficult to change. A 60% majority is better than a simple majority (50%), but the bar should really be much higher. Otherwise what’s the point of a Constitution? Or for that matter, what’s the point of a legislative or judicial branch? Why not disband two branches of state government and put everything to a simple majority vote? If that’s not a good idea, then the same logic should apply to amending the Constitution with a simple majority vote, and keep big money special interests out of it.
We need this issue to pass. It will preserve the Ohio we love and many of us have served to defend. It will prevent the ‘anything goes’ crowd from passing bad bills that effect rural Ohio. At present they rarely contact us in the rural counties for ballot measures.