OPINION: It’s time to vote NO on August 8th

Issue 1 will be voted on during the August 8th election. You may have seen mentions of it all over social media and the news, but what exactly is Issue 1?

Issue 1 would amend the Ohio Constitution to require a 60% majority to pass constitutional amendments, require citizen-initiated constitutional amendment campaigns to collect signatures from all 88 counties and eliminate the cure period of 10 days to gather additional signatures for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments when the original submission did not have enough valid signatures.

Currently, constitutional amendments in Ohio only need a 50% majority to pass, only need signatures from 44 counties and have that 10-day cure period.

These are the requirements under which Issue 1 will need to pass, despite it trying to make these requirements stricter. Should Issue 1 not have to play by its own rules and pass under its own new restrictions?

Issue 1 would effectively end majority rule in the state of Ohio. It would allow 40% of the population to kill an amendment that 60% want.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose stated that Issue 1 is “100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution.”

Anti-abortion activists are using Issue 1 to try to stop a constitutional amendment in November that would protect abortion rights in the state. 

We must reject Issue 1 and vote NO on August 8th. Then, vote YES for abortion rights in November. 

Republicans and Democrats across the state are coming out against this amendment. The former Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, Maureen O’Connor has stated it would be “catastrophic” if Issue 1 passed. Former Republican governors Bob Taft and John Kasich, as well as former Democratic governors Dick Celeste and Ted Strickland, have spoken against the amendment. 

Earlier this year, Republicans passed a bill effectively banning August elections, citing their cost, yet they pushed this August election forward. 

The timing of this election was purposeful. Voting turnout was at an all-time state low for the August 2022 election. Proponents of Issue 1 are counting on low turnout to pass their amendment. We must prove them wrong. 

Early voting for the August 8th election has already begun, as has absentee voting. Early voting goes until Sunday, August 6th. If you want to vote absentee, request your ballot today at voteohio.gov. The time to vote is now. 

To do this, students need to vote. If you are registered to vote in Athens but are not in Athens for the summer, request your absentee ballot now. If you are registered to vote at home, early vote or vote on election day. Make a plan. Get your friends to vote. Get your family to vote. 

Majority rule is crucial to democracy. We cannot let it be ripped out from under us. We must vote no on Issue 1.