SUMMIT COUNTY, OHIO—Last night, County Executive Ilene Shapiro and County Council passed a resolution opposing Issue 1 and urging residents to vote “NO” at the August 8 special election. County Executive Shapiro was joined by Council President Veronica Sims, Vice President Rita Darrow and Members Erin Dickinson, John Donofrio, Christine Wiedie Higham, John Schmidt, Elizabeth Walters and Jeff Wilhite.
County Executive Shapiro offers the following statement on Issue 1:
Issue 1, which requires a 60 percent majority of voters to amend the Ohio Constitution, creates a system where 40 percent of voters could deny the will of the majority, thereby diluting the power of the people. It would end the 110-year practice of “one person, one vote” for deciding citizen-led constitutional amendments by weighting “no” votes 1.5 times more than “yes” votes.
Issue 1 would make it significantly more difficult for voters to hold elected officials and special interests accountable by requiring the signatures of 5 percent of voters who participated in previous gubernatorial election all 88 counties to place a citizen-led amendment on the ballot, theoretically enabling one single county of 88 to block an amendment. Additionally, with the complete elimination of the signature cure period, Issue 1 denies valid voters the ability to remedy any error with their petition signature.
These changes make the already onerous task of collecting hundreds of thousands of valid signatures from 44 of 88 counties nearly impossible, leaving the ability to amend the constitution a privilege only for rich and powerful special interests, and silencing the voice of citizens in discussions about the future of Ohio’s Constitution.
Finally, lawmakers are utilizing a costly August special election to pose the question to voters, mere months after they passed H.B. 458 which banned August special elections due to historically low voter turnout and high costs, with the exception of those for a political subdivision or a school district who is in a fiscal state of emergency.
In her comments to County Council, Executive Shapiro urged Summit County voters to preserve their right to have a state government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people, by voting “NO” on Issue 1 at the August 8 special election.
