Do GOP leaders really want a 60 percent standard for victory?

If you’re an elitist, Ohio House Joint Resolution 19 should be your cup of tea. House Joint Resolution 19, backed by the Ohio General Assembly’s Republican leaders, would make it harder for rankand-file Ohioans to amend the state constitution.

Whether legislators approve HJR 19 this month or in the two-year session that will begin in January, it could crimp the right that Ohio voters have had for more than 100 years to propose state constitutional amendments directly, without the legislature’s “help.”

As things are now, Ohio voters may propose an amendment to the state constitution by gathering signatures on a petition. If they gather enough signatures, the proposed amendment goes on Ohio’s statewide ballot — no General Assembly required. And if a simple majority of those Ohioans voting on the proposal vote “yes,” the amendment becomes part of the Ohio Constitution.

One thing HJR 19’s cheerleaders don’t ballyhoo is that the required number of petition signatures is pegged to turnout in the most recent governor’s election: “(And) with record turnout in (last month’s) election, the requirement has now been raised from 305,591 to 431,840 signatures,” Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, told the House Government Oversight and Accountability Committee last week. “The people of Ohio have effectively increased the threshold for signatures by 41 percent.”

Even so, among HJR 19’s other features, the proposal would make it tougher to gather the required number of signatures. That’s plenty bad.

This is worse: Under HJR 19, a constitutional amendment proposed by voters’ signatures would have to get “yes” votes from at least 60 percent of those voting on it. In contrast, a constitutional amendment proposed by the legislature would still only require “yes” votes from a simple majority of those voting on it.

For example, if 100 Ohioans voted on a constitutional amendment backed by the Senate president and his caucus and (ipso facto) their campaign contributors, and the House speaker (and ditto), the amendment would become part of the Ohio Constitution if at least 51 of a (hypothetical) 100 Ohioans voting on it voted “yes.”

But if voters, by petition, proposed a constitutional amendment, at least 60 of the 100 Ohioans voting on it would have to vote “yes.” That’s neatly 20 percent more “yes” votes. The evident theory is that the Ohio General Assembly knows what it’s doing (yeah, right), while voters don’t know what they’re doing.

GOP partisans sometimes like to claim Democrats are elitists — wine, cheese, tofu, the whole nine meters. And HJR 19 isn’t elitist? Still, assume HJR 19’s GOP backers are correct and the only way to make sure Ohio voters know what they’re doing is to require a 60 percent supermajority for constitutional amendments proposed by petition. Anything less than 60 percent? Uh … no.

Have General Assembly Republicans thought that through? After all, Republican Gov.-elect Mike Dewine and his running mate, Lt. Gov.-elect Jon Husted, drew 50.4 percent of Ohio’s statewide vote last month — nowhere near 60 percent. Does that suggest Ohio voters didn’t know what they were doing when they backed the DewineHusted ticket?

Likewise, the GOP’S other statewide victors drew nothing like 60 percent of Ohio’s vote. Attorney General-elect Dave Yost of Columbus drew 52.2 percent; Secretary of State-elect Frank Larose of Hudson drew 50.7 percent; state Treasurer Robert Sprague of Findlay drew 53.3 percent; and state Auditor-elect Keith Faber of Celina didn’t even reach 50 percent; he drew 49.93 percent.

Given HJR 19’s proposed 60 percent victory margin, perhaps runoff elections are called for: Just under

51 of 100 voters gave Mike Dewine Ohio’s “supreme executive power” — the constitution’s words. Is the General Assembly sure that enough Ohioans are OK with that?

••• Seemingly unmentioned last week after former President George H.W. Bush’s death were his Ohio ties. As noted here before, his grandfather, Samuel P. Bush (1863-1948), was a Columbus industrialist. He’s buried in Green Lawn Cemetery. At Samuel Bush’s funeral, grandson George H.W. Bush was among the pallbearers. And the late Barbara Bush’s grandfather was Ohio Supreme Court Judge James E. Robinson (1868-1932), once Union County’s prosecuting attorney. Robinson is buried in Marysville’s Oakdale Cemetery.

Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. tsuddes@gmail.com