Readers weigh in on efforts to amend Ohio constitution
APPROVE (21.2% of survey respondents)
■ I agree with the notion that 60% is needed to have an amendment to the constitution not only for this initiative but future ones as well. Amending the constitution should have a clear backing of the voters. — John Grismer, Montgomery County
■ The constitution is supposed to be a framework by which laws are considered, enacted and adjudicated. It’s not supposed to be a patchwork of special interest priorities and corporate monopolies. — KC, Hancock County
■ 60% is not that high. It certainly would be indicative of a majority, whereas a simple majority would still be very divisive. A simple majority would be too close to call an issue settled. — Dennis Jans, Montgomery County
■ The constitution is the framework for how our state is governed and should not be used to settle any particular issue. The legislative powers in the constitution already provide the mechanism to debate and decide issues facing Ohioans. — Ken Standifer, Montgomery County
DISAPPROVE (76.8% of survey respondents)
■ As an OB/GYN, I have seen maternal and infant mortality rates increase as abortion restrictions have increased in Ohio over the past 10 years. Abortion is part of reproductive care and should be decided by the physician and patient, not politicians. Manipulating the laws to prevent a constitutional amendment for abortion is undemocratic and to require a simple majority at the Statehouse for a 60% threshold on citizen amendments is simply wrong. — Anita Somani MD, Franklin County
■ Honestly, if this was in any way about keeping things fair, this amendment should only be allowed to pass if it itself achieves the same 60% threshold it aims to instate. But that won’t be the standard because this is about control, not fairness. That this amendment will take advantage of current laws in an attempt to pass and won’t be held to the standards it is proposing is hypocrisy at its finest. And I say this as a citizen of a village in rural Ohio, with a large Republican majority, who will not be fooled by this undemocratic power-grab. Also, $20 million going to a nonessential special election in order to subvert democracy, supported only by the party calling for responsible spending, is insulting to the average citizen— Madaline Eitniear, Williams County
■ Special interests don’t vote, people do. But special interests can definitely afford to pay canvassers of signatures in all 88 counties; something citizen-led groups will be hard pressed to do. I don’t like the fact that 41% minority vote can win over 59% popular vote. This will ruin citizen-led initiatives for generations. The special election is an obvious, desperate attempt to thwart one issue: reproductive rights for women. It’s both costly and cowardly. — Mary Robertson, Greene County
■ Gerrymandering prevents voters from holding corrupt or outof-touch politicians accountable at the ballot box. These same politicians ignored the state Supreme Court’s rulings and our last election used unconstitutional maps. Ballot initiatives are one of the few ways left for citizens to decide what laws we want to live under — and now they’re trying to take that away from us. Yes, outside groups often interfere, but that can be controlled. What should not be controlled is the will of the people. The extreme policies of the extreme right wing are moving Ohio backwards. — Theresa Gasper, Montgomery County
■ A simple majority of the voting citizens should be adequate to add an amendment to the constitution. It is not OK to vote to raise this threshold just to block the abortion rights amendment vote. Abortion care is health care, and, as a physician, I need to be able to offer and discuss this reproductive choice freely and openly with my patients and they should be able to freely make the medical decision that is best for themselves and their loved ones. — Leslie Dingeldein, Cuyahoga County
■ Whether I believe in protecting abortion access or not has no bearing on the other two questions. The legislature voted to end August special elections. Now they want to spend taxpayer money and go back on that decision for one specific issue? No. The legislature should not be able to pick and choose when they want to break the rules they set up. Lastly, we have a long history in this state of citizen initiatives. It provides the people with an option to make their own decisions about constitutional changes. A 50% + 1 threshold is a fair election result. Majority vote wins. When you change that to 60% now the minority vote (40%) wins. Fair elections are based on majority. — Kristen Beireis, Warren County