Buckeye Reporter

The main group behind opposition to Issue 1, a proposal to change the way voters amend the Ohio constitution, raised about 84% of its funds from outside of Ohio, according to analysis of a campaign disclosure report released by the Secretary of State's office. 

According to the disclosure report, the group  One Person One Vote has raised $14.8 million opposing Issue 1, and has already spent $10.4 million.

 Notably, only 16% of the funds raised by One Person One Vote came from inside of Ohio, while the remaining funding came from outside of the state, according to the report. The amount donated to the group from in-state totaled only $2.3 million.The remaining amount, approximately $12.4 million was raised out-of-state.          

The document further showed that nearly 30%, or roughly $4 million, of the group's funds came from donors in California. 

 Issue 1, a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot in a special election Aug. 8, will help to strengthen Ohio's constitution, Republican lawmakers said on Twitter. In addition to requiring 60% voter approval, the measure would require signatures gathered to support amendments to include voters from all 88 of Ohio's counties and restrict "do-overs" on signature submissions, which would give signature-gatherers one chance to properly obtain signatures for a proposed amendment.       

 Supporters of Issue 1 claim that it 1 would diminish the influence of outside groups when it comes to amending Ohio's founding document. Last month Ohio Senate Majority Leader Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) told the Buckeye Reporter "[f]rom the casino amendment in 2009 to the failed recreational marijuana amendment in 2015, wealthy out of state business interests have showed there is no limit to their greed and that they would spend whatever amount necessary to clear Ohio’s uncommonly low threshold for constitutional amendments.”       

 Ohio is one of only 15 states which allow for ballot-driven amendments to their constitutions. Of those fifteen, four of them, Illinois, Arizona, Florida, and Colorado, have thresholds for passage above a simple majority.