Ohio Labor Groups Oppose Issue One
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STEUBENVILLE -- Groups backing the One Person, One Vote campaign encouraged area residents to say "hell no" to state Issue One in Ohio's Aug. 8 special election during a Wednesday morning press conference.
"I want to go on the record now. We're going to vote against Issue One on Aug. 8 to protect the majority rule," said Kevan Brown, president of IBEW Local 246, which hosted the event at its North Fourth Street headquarters.
"Issue One is going to make it harder to implement laws that could positively impact Ohio's working families. It's going to take away freedoms we've had since 1912. Union members across the state understand the importance of majority rule. Fifty percent plus one is the basis of our democracy, and we will fight to protect it."
Issue One, if passed, would change the requirements needed to enact new amendments to the Ohio Constitution. Since 1912, a constitutional amendment has required a simple majority of at least 50% plus one vote to pass. If the issue passes, that requirement would be changed to a 60% majority needed to pass.
Issue One's enactment would also require an initiative petition for new constitutional amendments to be signed by 5% of eligible voters in each of the state's 88 counties, an increase from the current requirement of 44 counties.
Jim Marquis, president of Fort Steuben Lodge 1 of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he knows police officers from across the state who "strongly oppose Issue One and are going to vote no in the Aug. 8 special election for special interests."
With the current simple majority policy, Marquis said, Ohioans have been able to put new Constitutional amendments on ballots for 110 years, and "the sacred principle of one person, one vote" should be protected.
John Saunders, a staff representative for the United Steelworkers, agreed.
"It doesn't make sense that, in the middle of August, we're going to have a special election that ... takes away your right as the majority to be able to make changes if the legislature makes a mistake and does something you don't believe in."
Saunders said it is hypocritical that Issue One requires 50% plus one to pass, but future amendments would require 60%. He said it is not a political party-restrictive issue and that individuals from both sides are urging state residents to vote no.
Former Republican Govs. Bob Taft and John Kasich and former Democrat Govs. Ted Strickland and Dick Celeste have spoken out against Issue One. Also coming out against the issue were former attorneys general, including Republicans Betty Montgomery and Jim Petro, and Democrats Richard Cordray, Lee Fisher and Nancy Rogers.
"Educate your friends, your family -- if you're in organized labor, your members. This election is going to (be) won by turnout," Saunders said.
Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, which advocates for government transparency and accountability, said Issue One dilutes voter power and gives a greater voice to the minority of Ohio voters rather than the majority. She noted the disruptiveness of the special election, which will take place in August rather than being combined with the November general election.
"The state Legislature is choosing to put an issue on a ballot in August that dilutes our power," Turcer said. "Why? Because it increases their power, and I think it's really important for us to remember that when Ohioans in 1912 chose to put direct democracy on the ballot, that was put in place as a check on the state legislature because the state legislature, at the time, was truly corrupt."