Buckeye Reporter

The Ohio House of Representatives today passed House Resolution 1, which would require petition-based statewide constitutional amendments to pass with 60 percent of the vote, not simple majorities. 

"It took 6 months of hard work, but I’m very pleased to see my Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment passed by the House today," tweeted State Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville), sponsor of the resolution. "Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible, and I’m looking forward to the election in August."

The Ohio Senate already passed the resolution, and Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) has signaled he will sign the resolution. It will then appear on the August ballot.

"We commend Speaker Stephens and vast majority of Ohio House Republicans for their support of this important amendment," Joel Riter, an advisor to the Save Our Constitution PAC, which supports the amendment, told the Buckeye Reporter. "We look forward to making our case to the voters in the months ahead that Ohio’s constitution must be protected," 

The Buckeye Reporter previously reported that "a roster of left-leaning advocacy groups" oppose the measure, including Black Lives Matter Cleveland, Black Lives Matter Dayton, Pro-Choice Ohio, Black Out and Proud, the Cleveland Bi+ Network, Columbus New Liberals, Democrat Socialists of America-Cleveland, Ensuring Parole for Incarcerated Citizens, New Voices for Reproductive Justice and the Ohio Federation of Teachers.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank La Rose (R-Akron) backs the reform. He says that in the current system, it is too easy for well-funded "special interests" to win low-turnout, off-year elections, end-running the legislature.

"Because of the ease of amending Ohio’s founding document, the Ohio Constitution has become a tool used by special interests to permanently change our form of government to their liking," he said. "In just the past three petition-based amendment campaigns, special interests have spent more than $50 million on media advertising, political consultants, and more to support their passage"

“If you have a good idea and feel it deserves to be within the framework of our government, it should require the same standard for passage that we see in both our United States Constitution and here in our own state legislature," La Rose said. "Requiring a broad consensus majority of at least 60% for passing a petition-based constitutional amendment provides a good-government solution to promote compromise.”

Since 2000, there have been 16 petition-based constitutional amendments proposed in Ohio; five have passed and eleven have failed. 

Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, Florida, Mississippi, Nebraska and Wyoming all currently require supermajority votes to pass constitutional amendments.

Last year, there were six abortion-related statewide ballot measures across the U.S., the most in history, according to Ballotpedia.com.

In 2022, California approved a state constitutional right to "reproductive freedom," requiring state taxpayers to guarantee funding of abortions and contraceptives for all state residents.