COLUMBUS, Ohio — The first wave of early voting has begun in the Aug. 8 special election for State Issue 1, although not without last-minute complications.
County boards of elections mailed absentee ballots to military and other overseas voters on Friday. But on Tuesday, Secretary of State Frank LaRose ordered a last-minute change to ballot language after his office realized that a previous version that the state sent to county boards of election was incorrect. The mix-up didn’t seem to pose any problems for Friday voting, but elections officials estimated it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Read more: Coverage of State Issue 1
On Wednesday, a prominent supporter and opponent of State Issue 1 debated in Columbus. State Sen. Rob McColley, a Republican, said the measure would strengthen Ohio’s constitution, which he said had become susceptible to well-funded ballot campaigns by special interests, while Mike Curtin, a former Columbus Dispatch editor and ex-Democratic state lawmaker, said it would undermine voters’ power to hold the legislature in check.
And on Sunday, cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer published a story focusing on the implications the Aug. 8 election has for abortion rights, both in Ohio and as part of the broader national fight over the issue a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Advocates on both sides of the issue are watching whether what happens in Ohio is replicable for other states, particularly if State Issue 1 passes.
Need to Know: How to register, where to vote, when the polls are open
State Issue 1, if voters approve it, would amend the state constitution to require future amendments to get a 60% supermajority in a statewide vote in a future in order to pass. That’s compared to the current 50% simple majority standard that’s been in place for more than a century. It also would make it harder for potential ballot issues to qualify by expanding mandatory signature-gathering requirements for amendment campaigns.
Voting “yes” on the issue would approve the change.
Andrew Tobias covers state politics and government for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer