Ohio lawmakers trying to shred state Constitution

There is legislation in our Statehouse that could forever diminish our voices when it comes to the Ohio Constitution.

I was one of only six allowed to testify against House Joint Resolution 1 on April 19, when I took a stand against this resolution and Senate Joint Resolution 2, its complementary legislation.

House Joint Resolution 1 and Senate Joint Resolution 2 would change the constitutional amendment process; instead of the majority vote of 50% + 1, this resolution would require 60% of the vote, further diluting the votes of Ohioans in a state where our voices are already diminished and silenced.

By requiring 60% of the vote, 41% will be able to control what changes can be made to the Constitution.

This is not democracy. This is a blatant attempt to concentrate the power in this state to a group of elites who clearly do not believe they are constitutionally responsible to the people.

When House Bill 458 was passed in January, lawmakers supporting the anti-voter bill voted to end August special elections. Weeks later, a ballot measure focused on enshrining reproductive rights was proposed by Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and approved to move forward.

Then, the same lawmakers who voted yes on House Bill 458 brought special elections back to the table to create further obstacles and barriers for this, and all future, ballot measures to pass.

In a rush to ram this constitutional change through, lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 92 and House Bill 144 to put these resolutions before voters in an August special election. This is both undemocratic and unfair, because:

“Interest groups often manipulatively put issues on the ballot in August because they know fewer Ohioans are paying attention. As a result, the side that wins is typically the one that has a vested interest in the passage of the issue…”

Those words come from Secretary of State Frank Larose, who is now one of the key proponents of these resolutions. Larose knows the expense and burden of August special elections, yet he and the legislators who support this cause want to spend $20 million — out of the pocket of Ohioans — on an election to serve their own special interests.

Defeating these resolutions is larger than any one issue. It is about saving democracy itself, the very foundation on which this nation is built upon.

While proponents of this anti-democratic agenda have their sights set on this power grab in order to control what happens this November with the proposed reproductive rights and abortion ballot initiative, the detrimental impact of this deliberate silencing of Ohioans could last beyond our lifetimes.

If this election is held in August and the resolution passes, not only will this election cost Ohioans $20 million, it will cost us the democratic promise of one person, one vote, because it will end majority rule.

In the end, we’ll have actively watched our Constitution shredded and an unraveling of democracy in this state. And we, the people, cannot — and will not — allow that to happen.

It’s time for us to rise up and defend democracy before it is dismantled.

With a background in community organizing, Kayla Griffin advocates for voter rights and election protection in her positions at All Voting is Local Action Ohio and as president of the Cleveland Branch of the NAACP.