Buckeye Reporter

After the vote in Ohio struck down Issue 1, which would have required a majority bipartisan vote mandatory to amend the state constitution, Secretary of State Frank LaRose took to platform X to warn citizens that there was already an amendment pushed toward the attorney general to strip away legal protections from local law enforcement.

"I told you they're trying to turn Ohio into California. Now they're coming after our police," LaRose tweeted.

An Ohio organization called The Ohio Coalition To End Qualified Immunity did not wait for the results of the election on Issue 1 to be certified before submitting their petition to end Qualified Immunity across the state, a measure that protects state employees, like police officers, from civil lawsuits. This marks the third time this year the organization has submitted this petition to the Ohio Attorney General's office, with AG David Yost rejecting the first two submissions. Yost has until Aug. 18 to make a response to the current petition.

Ohio held an election on Aug. 8 that included the proposal of Issue 1. A "yes" vote for the issue would require a 60% majority vote in favor of making any amendments to the constitution. A "no" vote would maintain the previous policy of a simple majority (over 50%) to make such changes. The initial election results against raising the majority requirement are credited to the major abortion rights bill expected to be on the November 2024 ballot, Politico reported.

"This amendment threatens to unleash a flood of frivolous, politically motivated lawsuits again the brave men and women trying to protect our communities," LaRose said. "If only we had a requirement that would ensure a broad, bipartisan consensus of Ohioans before something like this gets jammed into our state Constitution. We've got a radical abortion amendment coming in November, job-killing wage mandates on small businesses aimed at next year's ballot and now an anti-police amendment that's just been filed. The attempt to turn Ohio into California is officially underway."