Redistricting change sought

August 17, 2023

While the effort just kicked off and has a long way to get certified, there’s an effort to get a constitutional amendment on the 2024 general election ballot to again change state and federal legislative redistricting. Citizens Not Politicians, a group spearheading the effort, collected about 7,300 signatures from 31 counties in about four days. The group needs at least 1,000 to be valid to start the process. Also, Attorney General Dave Yost will decide next week if the lengthy summary of the proposed ballot issue is a truthful statement of what is being proposed. After that, ...

Work ahead for abortion foes

August 10, 2023

If Issue 1 was a precursor to an abortion rights constitutional amendment to appear on the Nov. 7 ballot, those who oppose the latter have work to do. Turnout for Tuesday’s special election statewide was 38.48 percent, which would be good for any election except those during a presidential year — and it was at a time when most people are not accustomed to voting. Turnout in Mahoning County was 36.15 percent with 58.22 percent of voters opposing it. Turnout in Trumbull County was 37.16 percent with 57.15 percent of voters opposing it. Turnout in Columbiana County was 37.56 percent ...

Voters focused on Issue 1, abortion

August 4, 2023

If some backers of Issue 1 thought putting the constitutional amendment on a special August ballot would lower turnout and make it easier to pass, they were mistaken. Mahoning Valley election officials told me the turnout for Tuesday’s election with the sole issue on it is going to be comparable or better than the typical odd-year general election or a gubernatorial primary. The issue has drawn significant interest from voters. Several voters have abortion on their minds for this special election. That’s because an abortion rights constitutional amendment will be on the Nov. 7 ...

Issue 1 to have major future impact

July 28, 2023

Issue 1 will have a huge impact on Ohio if it passes. It’s a very unusual election as only one statewide issue is on the Aug. 8 special election ballot. It’s the first time in 97 years since a state ballot measure was decided in August. That was for a special assessment tax that was rejected soundly. Ohioans are not used to rare August elections. Just look at the 8 percent turnout in the August 2022 election, which was an atypical second primary because of unconstitutional state legislative maps. It was the poorest turnout for a statewide election since numbers have been ...

Ups, downs of LaRose’s bid

July 20, 2023

Secretary of State Frank LaRose enters the Ohio Senate race with some advantages over his two Republican opponents but also with challenges. LaRose certainly is better known than the other two Republican candidates: state Sen. Matt Dolan of Chagrin Falls and Cleveland-area businessman Bernie Moreno. LaRose has won two statewide elections for his current office while Dolan finished third in last year’s Republican primary for a different U.S. Senate seat with Moreno withdrawing from that Senate race two days after the filing deadline. But as U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Cincinnati, ...

Aug. 8 turnout hard to gauge

July 13, 2023

Predicting turnout for the Aug. 8 special election with a single state constitutional amendment is challenging, though it certainly will be low. There hasn’t been a statewide constitutional amendment on an August ballot in Ohio in 97 years. Also, turnout was 7.9 percent last year for a special statewide primary in August for state legislative and state central committee seats. That occurred after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled General Assembly maps approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission were unconstitutional. Last year was a partisan primary in August. This election is ...