2y ago

MEGA THREAD - 2023 Ohio Special Election - Voters Reject Issue 1

Ohioans vote Tuesday on a measure that would make it harder to pass future changes to the state constitution. Ideastream's Karen Kasler explains the possible implications for abortion access in Ohio.

Sources:

NPR: A look ahead at the Ohio special election

Five Thirty Eight: Everything You Need To Know About The Ohio Ballot Measure That Could Block Abortion Rights

CNN: Ohio special election becomes proxy for abortion rights fight

PBS News Hour: Ohio voters to decide on constitutional change before determining abortion rights

The Guardian: Republicans pushed a special election in Ohio – what does it mean for abortion rights?

Slate: The Cardboard-Box Billionaires Are at It Again, This Time in Ohio The Uihleins have put millions of dollars toward preventing a vote on abortion in the state.

AP: Voters in Ohio reject GOP-backed proposal that would have made it tougher to protect abortion rights

NY Times: Ohio Voters Reject Constitutional Change Intended to Thwart Abortion Amendment

26 comments

Is this the same referendum format requiring half the votes +1 to pass? The exact thing they're trying to kill off?
EDIT: The measure should have to be supported by the same vote threshold to pass that it seeks to impose.
- The irony is even dumber since they already passed HB 458 which forbids such an election in August.
  They broke their own rule, a rule that they themselves pushed through.
  Don't ever pretend that the GOP cares about rules or laws. They will literally do whatever they must to remain in power.
  
  Thank you for this. I live in Ohio and did not know this law existed. I have not heard it brought up in any discussion or news coverage (although I admit my decision was made early and have not spent much time listening to the 'debates'). Did LaRose and company offer any reason as to why they think HB 458 does not apply in this case?
  
  ["As a course of action, normal course of doing business, yes, I do not believe in having elections in August as a normal way of holding elections," he explained.
  "But if the state legislature decides to hold an election in August, it's not unusual," said LaRose.] (https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1192550481/ohio-issue-1-ballot-special-election-abortion-constitutional-amendment)
- Sort of the ironic soft underbelly of small-d democratic institutions. You overthrow them by winning power democratically and keeping it by force, whereas if someone wants to take it back for democracy they have to then take it by force and keep it democratically, the harder proposition.

26 comments