The GOP Is Trying to Steal Democracy in Ohio. That Has National Implications.

Republicans in the state want to raise the threshold for passing constitutional amendments to stop abortion rights from advancing via citizen initiatives.

Photo: Mary LeBus

Today, our eyes turn to Ohio, considered a bastion of GOP power. But is it really? Or, like Florida, has it become a voter-suppressed state, where the will of the electorate is not respected and the rules change to suit those in power?

It’s a bit of both. Ohio is already one of the most gerrymandered states in the country. Its maps are so unfair that its own state Supreme Court voted multiple times to send the maps back to the drawing board, only to have its rulings repeatedly undermined, the clock run out, and the illegally skewed maps still used in the midterms.

Now, a new threat looms in the Buckeye State. Facing the prospect of a citizen initiative to restore statewide abortion rights this November, the GOP-dominated Ohio legislature is moving in advance to block it. They have proposed a measure to increase the vote requirement for a constitutional amendment from a simple majority to 60 percent, along with making it far harder to qualify a citizen initiative. In short, the Ohio GOP wants to write in a supermajority requirement, just as the will of the majority, which favors reproductive choice and the protections of Roe v. Wade, is about to make itself heard.

Wait, can they even do that? Just blatantly move the goalposts, right as progressives are getting ready to score? Unfortunately, there is no legal barrier preventing this. Instead, the people of Ohio need to make it clear that they will not put up with this power grab.

Let’s take a closer look at what the Ohio GOP is trying to pull off. Then let’s review what legislative hoops remain for them to jump through and how ordinary citizens can make a difference to the outcome. Finally, we’ll review how the Ohio efforts are a blueprint for anti-democratic moves by the party nationwide.

The race to impose a ballot initiative supermajority requirement

The Ohio state Senate voted last Wednesday to advance the controversial bill, known as Senate Joint Resolution 2. That law, if passed, would ask Ohio voters to decide whether a 60 percent supermajority, instead of a simple majority, should be required to enact proposed amendments to the state Constitution. 

The question is being fast-tracked. Separate legislation proposes a special August election to decide this issue. Note that this comes with a dose of hypocrisy: Lawmakers in Ohio recently voted to limit August elections because they were considered to have low turn-out and be too costly. Yet now, in order to stop an abortion amendment, they want an August election again.

The GOP has not tried to hide the fact that this supermajority bill is about stopping abortion rights. According to reporting by the New York Times, the House sponsor of the ballot amendment said in a letter to colleagues that, without it, “all the work accomplished by multiple Republican majorities will be undone, and we will return to 19,000+ babies being aborted each and every year.”

The GOP tried last November to push this same measure, but it failed to pass after demonstrators occupied the Statehouse and shouted from the galleries. But on Wednesday, a House committee passed its version of it. This happened after the Committee chair cut off debate at three hours, leaving many citizens who had come to oppose the measure unheard. Shouts of “shame!” greeted his move.

“To force this to a vote in a way that you are doing is undemocratic, it is unfair, and frankly it is a slap in the face not only to democracy, but to the people who we represent and the people who have taken the time to come to this statehouse and have their voice heard,” said Democratic Minority Leader Allison Russo. “This is absolutely outrageous.”

Andrea Yagoda said she waited over three hours to testify but never got the chance. “What we’re seeing today is why we need [citizens’ initiatives],” she said. “They don’t want to hear from us. They don’t need to hear from us. There’s no accountability because they gerrymandered themselves a supermajority.”

Can we stop this theft of democracy?

By law, the ballot measure itself needs a supermajority in the GOP House to pass, and it isn’t clear (yet) that they have the votes. The measure’s sponsor sought to fast track the proposal during last year’s lame-duck session, but back then the measure didn’t have enough support to pass the House. He brought it back in January, but it has been stalled, he claims, by the House Speaker, Jason Stephens.

You may recall, back in January, I wrote about a political struggle within the GOP-controlled House. In that struggle, the Democratic minority threw its weight behind Stephens, a less extreme candidate, who now holds the gavel because of their support. In a GOP supermajority situation like they face in Ohio, Democrats can’t pass any of their own bills, but they can influence who has control of the body. Part of the deal brokered by Democrats and Stephens apparently was to slow-roll a 60 percent supermajority ballot initiative.

As I wrote at the time,

Of critical importance is the future of a much-reviled proposed law that would change the threshold requirement for proposed state constitutional amendments from a simple majority to a supermajority of 60 percent. When asked about it, Stephens seemed to back-burner this highly unpopular bill. “We’ll have to look at that, we will have to look at all the different things,” he answered, while noting that the schedule will soon be busy with budget prep and that he’s “got a lot of things to do.”

The clock is now ticking down. In order to qualify the ballot measure for August, the legislature has until May 10 to pass it. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Speaker Stephens has signaled that he’s still not on board with the August election idea, and this could complicate matters in the House.

This is one of those rare moments where citizen pressure, applied at the right place with the right person, could have an outsized impact. If you’d like to let Speaker Stephens know you are not on board with them changing the rules mid-game to require a 60 percent threshold to pass constitutional amendments, just so they can stop abortion rights from being restored by popular vote, you can call his office directly at (614) 466-1366 or send him a message here: 

https://ohiohouse.gov/members/jason-stephens/contact

If he hears from enough people, particularly Ohio residents, he may decide to continue to withhold his support for this measure, potentially dooming its chances of passage before the abortion ballot measure in November. If you have friends or family in Ohio, please share this with them. Time is running short.

The blueprint and the fight ahead

What happens in Ohio could also have an outsized impact on what other states do. Democracy watchdogs and conservative activists alike are following the Ohio ballot supermajority effort with keen interest. 

In Missouri, for example, the GOP-controlled legislature is also on the verge of putting a constitutional amendment up to a vote in November, on a ballot measure that would similarly raise the threshold for constitutional amendments from up to 60 percent from 50 percent. That measure was also in direct response to a looming fight over a possible constitutional amendment rolling back Missouri’s strict abortion ban. The bill has passed the Missouri House and is moving through the state Senate.

If the Ohio bill dies even before it gets put to a vote in August, that could take the wind out of similar efforts in states like Missouri. But if the Ohio measure passes, then democracy proponents will have a major fight on their hand in August. 

Because the word “abortion” does not appear on the amendment, and turnout in August is traditionally very low, the GOP is hoping it can sneak the measure past the voters. But an August ballot measure may also backfire: In Kansas in August of 2022, abortion foes tried to pass a constitutional amendment that would have eliminated the right to abortion in the state. But it went down to resounding defeat, thanks to grassroots organizing against the measure.

In short, the battle over abortion rights in certain, otherwise deeply red states has already begun—but it is being disguised as one about the rights of citizens to even decide the question by a simple majority. This attack upon democratic principles cannot go unanswered, and we can still stop these bills in places like Ohio. But if they move forward, they can still go down to defeat if voters are aware of the stakes, just as we saw in Kansas.

Enthusiasm and turnout will be key to backstopping democracy against this assault. And that begins with a keen awareness of the dangerous game the GOP is playing, and an early mobilization against it.