ATHENS COUNTY, Ohio — If all goes according to plan, Ohio will hold a special election in just two months, on Aug. 8. On the ballot is a single issue which would make it more difficult to amend the Ohio constitution.
The Aug. 8 special election has been criticized as an attempt by Republican lawmakers to stymie an abortion rights ballot issue that may appear on the November ballot.
What is Issue 1?
If passed, Issue 1 would:
- Increase the vote threshold required to amend the Ohio constitution through a ballot initiative from a simple majority of 50% plus one to 60%.
- Require ballot petitions for constitutional amendments to receive signatures from 5% of voters in every Ohio county (currently, petitions must receive that many signatures from only 44 of the state’s 88 counties).
- Prevent groups proposing constitutional changes from gathering additional signatures after submitting petitions to the Ohio Secretary of State.
Officially, Republican lawmakers argue the initiative is designed to ensure the constitutional amendment process is only used to enshrine widely supported constitutional measures.
However, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, recently told supporters the measure is “100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution.”
Legislators in the Ohio House and Senate passed Senate Joint Resolution 2 to put the special issue on the ballot in the August election. Not a single Democrat voted for the legislation.
Some Republicans also voted against the joint resolution, including State Rep. Jay Edwards (R-94, Nelsonville), but this opposition did not overcome support from most Republican party members.
Edwards did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
A lawsuit pending before the Ohio Supreme Court argues the election is illegal. Only five months before passing SJR2, the Ohio General Assembly passed a bill, signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine, which eliminated most August special elections, citing low voter turnout and a high cost for taxpayers.
Although the lawsuit may stop the August election from taking place, Adriane Mohlenkamp with the League of Women Voters of Athens County said voters should “move forward as if there’s going to be an election. There’s not enough time to wait and see what happens in the courts.”
The Ohio League of Women Voters has supported the lawsuit and opposes Issue 1. Mohlenkamp said the issue gives “the 40% of the voters who vote no [on any given constitutional amendment] the power to make a decision.”
Opponents to the issue also include a bipartisan group of former Ohio governors, numerous labor organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union. The issue’s supporters include DeWine, the Ohio Farm Bureau and Ohio Right to Life.
Important dates
According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, important dates for the Aug. 8 election include:
- June 23: Military and overseas absentee ballot voting begins.
- July 10: Voter registration deadline. Voters may register online.
- July 11: Early in-person absentee voting begins, and runs through Aug. 6, with the full schedule available on the Ohio Secretary of State’s website.
- Aug. 1: Absentee ballot applications due. Applications must be received by the local county board of elections, which will remain open until 8:30 p.m. Absentee ballots will then be mailed to voters.
- Aug. 7: Last day to postmark an absentee ballot.
- Aug. 8: Election day. Polls will be open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Voter ID changes
The Aug. 8 election is the first in which Ohio’s restrictive new voter ID requirements will take effect — which are among the most restrictive voter ID requirements in the country.
To vote on Election Day, voters will be required to present a valid photo ID, which may include a passport or driver’s licenses. Utility bills, bank statements and other previously accepted forms of identification will no longer be accepted at the polls.
Voters who do not have a valid photo ID at the time of the election may vote by absentee ballot, as long as ballots are in by the Aug. 7 postmark deadline.
For voters with questions about Ohio’s new voter ID laws, the League of Women Voters of Athens County will host a presentation on June 13 at 7 p.m. at the Athens Community Center, address.
“Our biggest concern is just educating voters about the new role so that they can vote in a way that works for them,” Mohlenkamp said.
How to help the local BOE
The Athens County Board of Elections has been busy preparing for the August special election, said Deputy Director Tony Brooks.
Brooks said it was not yet clear whether the BOE would need additional poll workers for the special election but encouraged residents interested in serving as poll workers to sign up online.
“We’ll get them in if we can,” Brooks said.
