On Tuesday, August 8, Ohio voters will decide Issue 1. Here's what the issue would do if approved.
Issue 1 would amend the Ohio Constitution:
- To alter the simple majority rule of 50% + 1 and apply a new 60% passage rate to amendments proposed by citizen petitions, by the General Assembly and by constitutional conventions. The simple majority rule has been in place since 1912, according to the League of Women Voters.
- To require the number of signatures for petitions for citizen-initiated amendments to equal 10% of the votes in the last governor’s election and 5% of the governor’s vote in all 88 Ohio counties. Currently, to get an issue on the ballot petitioners must collect signatures equal to at least 10% of the votes in the last governor’s election and 5% of the governor’s vote in 44 counties.
- To eliminate the 10-day “cure period” during which signatures on petitions for citizen-initiated amendments that are determined to be inadequate may be updated. Sometimes signatures do not pass muster because of changes of addresses on the voting rolls or for other reasons.
Read more coverage of State Issue 1 and what it means for Ohio
Everything you need to vote in Ohio's August special election on Issue 1.
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted hasn't been as outspoken as some of his Republican colleagues on talking about the issue that would make it harder to amend Ohio's constitution, but the likely candidate for governor says he supports it.
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Turnout is likely to be low in Ohio's August 8 special election. So why are Ohioans being asked to decide this now?
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Ohio voters have until Sunday to vote on Issue 1, a proposal to make it harder to change the constitution, with Election Day on Aug. 8.
More than $15 million has been been raised by the groups supporting and opposing Issue 1. But the money gap between the two sides is big.
