Ohio Voting Requirements Initiative (2020)
Ohio Voting Requirements Initiative | |
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Election date November 3, 2020 | |
Topic Voting policy measures | |
Status Not on the ballot | |
Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Ohio Voting Requirements Initiative was not on the ballot in Ohio as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.[1]
The initiative would have amended Article V, Section I of the Ohio Constitution to make the following changes:[2]
- remove the requirement that voters must be registered 30 days prior to an election but maintain that all voters must be registered;
- require absentee ballots requested by military personnel or voters outside of the U.S. be sent 46 days before the election;
- automatically register citizens at motor vehicle departments unless the citizen refuses registration via a written statement;
- allow voter registration at polling locations; and
- require 28 days of early voting.
A similar measure, Michigan Proposal 3, Voting Policies in State Constitution Initiative, was approved in 2018. The initiated constitutional amendment added eight voting policies to the Michigan Constitution, including straight-ticket voting, automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, and no-excuse absentee voting.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The title for this measure submitted by petitioners was as follows:[2]
“ |
The Secure and Fair Elections Amendment[3] |
” |
Ballot summary
The summary for this measure submitted by petitioners was as follows:[2]
“ |
The Amendment would amend Article V, Section 1 of the Ohio Constitution to:
|
” |
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Support
Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections led the campaign in support of the initiative.[2]
Supporters
Opposition
If you are aware of any opponents or opposing arguments, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.
Path to the ballot
In Ohio, the number of signatures required to get an initiated constitutional amendment placed on the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. Ohio also requires initiative sponsors to submit 1,000 signatures with the initial petition application. Ohio has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures be gathered from at least 44 of Ohio's 88 counties. Petitioners must gather signatures equal to a minimum of half the total required percentage of the gubernatorial vote in each of the 44 counties. Petitions are allowed to circulate for an indefinite period of time. Signatures are due 125 days prior to the general election that proponents want the initiative on.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 443,958 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit the signatures was July 1, 2020.
County boards of elections are responsible for verifying signatures, and the secretary of state must determine the sufficiency of the signature petition at least 105 days before the election. If the first batch of signatures is determined to be insufficient, the petitioners are given a ten-day window to collect more signatures.
Stages of this initiative
- Darlene L. English, Laura A. Gold, Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Isabel C. Robertson, and Ebony Speakes-Hall filed the initiative with the Ohio Attorney General on January 22, 2020.[2]
- On January 31, 2020, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) rejected the summary of the amendment because it was longer than the text of the amendment and contains unnecessary information. In his letter rejecting the summary, Yost wrote that the summary fails "to accurately and concisely extract the language and effect of a proposed amendment and filter it into a synopsis that is easily understandable to a signer of the petition."[6]
- On February 10, 2020, petitioners resubmitted a version of the initiative.[1]
- On February 20, 2020, the Ohio Attorney General verified that the summary submitted by petitioners was "fair and truthful" according to state requirements.[7]
- On March 2, 2020, the Ohio Ballot Board voted that the initiative violates Ohio's single-subject rule and must be divided into four separate initiatives. The Board divided the initiative into the following subject areas:[8][9][10]
- administering elections,
- registering voters,
- voting rights for those with disabilities, and
- auditing election results.
- On March 5, 2020, Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Attorney General Dave Yost that argued, "The provisions of the Proposed Amendment each relate to this single general object of voting."
- On April 23, 2020, the Ohio Ballot Board voted to certify the measure as one amendment pursuant to the court's ruling.[11]
- On March 30, 2020, initiative sponsors filed a lawsuit in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas asking for the signature deadline to be extended, the number of signatures required to be reduced, and permission to gather signatures online. James Hayes, a spokesperson for the campaign, said, "It might be a long shot that the court will side with us, but we thought it was a shot worth taking. ... And we think that this would be a good decision, a worthwhile decision, in line with protecting the First Amendment rights of Ohioans across the state."[12]
- On April 28, Judge David C. Young dismissed the case arguing that since the petition requirements for initiatives are in the Ohio Constitution "the ability to change those requirements is reserved only to the people." He added that there is no exception for public health emergencies.[13]
- On May 19, U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus ordered Ohio to accept electronic signatures from the ballot measure campaigns and extended the signature deadline from July 1 to July 31. Judge Sargus argued in his opinion that "these unique historical circumstances of a global pandemic and the impact of Ohio's Stay-at-Home Orders, the State's strict enforcement of the signature requirements for local initiatives and constitutional amendments severely burden Plaintiff's First Amendment rights." The judge's order applies only to the plaintiffs in the case.[14]
- On May 21, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost appealed the court's order.[15]
- On May 26, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals put a hold on the lower court's order that granted the campaign permission to gather signatures electronically and extended the deadline. The judges wrote, "There’s no reason that Plaintiffs can’t advertise their initiatives within the bounds of our current situation, such as through social or traditional media inviting interested electors to contact them and bring the petitions to the electors’ homes to sign."[15]
- On June 18, 2020, the campaign announced that it was suspending its efforts to put the initiative on the November ballot. Toni Webb, campaign manager for Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections, said, "We end this campaign incredibly proud of everything we have accomplished, including a 6-1 victory at the Ohio Supreme Court finding our initiative qualified as a single issue, and making clear the standard for future ballot measures in Ohio. ... The bottom line is that the COVID-19 pandemic hit right at the beginning of Ohio’s precious signature gathering months, making it impossible to gather the signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot."[16]
Lawsuit
Lawsuit overview | |
Issue: Whether the measure violates the state's single-subject rule | |
Court: Ohio Supreme Court | |
Ruling: Ruled in favor of plaintiffs | |
Plaintiff(s): Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections | Defendant(s): Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Ohio Ballot Board, and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost |
Plaintiff argument: The measure does not violate the state's single-subject rule because each provision of the measure pertains to voting. | Defendant argument: The measure contains four separate matters and therefore should be voted on by the electorate as four separate measures. |
Source: Toledo Blade
On March 5, 2020, Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Attorney General Dave Yost that argued, "The provisions of the Proposed Amendment each relate to this single general object of voting." Petitioners asked the Ohio Supreme Court to require the Ohio Ballot Board to reconvene to vote that the provisions of the amendment do not need to be voted on separately. On April 14, 2020, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in a 6-1 vote requiring the Ohio Ballot Board to reconvene as soon as possible to certify the proposed amendment as a single measure. The court rejected the plaintiff's request for more time to collect signatures. On April 23, 2020, the Ohio Ballot Board voted to certify the measure as one amendment pursuant to the court's ruling.[17][8][18]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ohio Attorney General, "List of petitions submitted to the Attorney General's Office," accessed January 23, 2020
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Ohio Secretary of State, "Complete Text of Initiative," accessed January 23, 2020
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ CT Post, "NAACP endorses ballot campaign to streamline Ohio voting," January 30, 2020
- ↑ ACLU Ohio, "Voting Rights Press Release," January 27, 2020
- ↑ Ohio Attorney General, "Attorney General Letter," accessed February 3, 2020
- ↑ Ohio Attorney General, "Attorney General Letter," accessed February 20, 2020
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 WKSU, "Ohio Supreme Court Says Voting Rights Amendment Will Be One Issue, Not Four," April 15, 2020
- ↑ Cleveland.com, "Ohio Ballot Board splits voter access amendment into four issues, dealing blow to ACLU-backed campaign," March 2, 2020
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Letter from Ballot Board," accessed March 3, 2020
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Ballot Board approval of the proposed constitutional amendment," April 23, 2020
- ↑ Idea Stream, "As Ohio Stays Home, Minimum Wage Ballot Organizers Sue To Extend Signature Deadline," March 31, 2020
- ↑ Court of Common Pleas Franklin County, Ohioans for Raising the Wage v. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, accessed April 28, 2020
- ↑ Cleveland.com, "Federal judge orders Ohio to allow state issue campaigns to collect electronic petition signatures," May 20, 2020
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Toledo Blade, "Appeals court blocks order giving ballot issues more time," May 26, 2020
- ↑ ACLU of Ohio, "Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections Suspends Campaign," June 18, 2020
- ↑ Ohio Supreme Court, Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections v. Frank LaRose and Dave Yost, accessed March 6, 2020
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Ballot Board approval of the proposed constitutional amendment," April 23, 2020
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