Ohio Issue 1, Ballot Initiative Signature Deadline Amendment (2008)
| Ohio Issue 1 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Initiative and referendum process |
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| Status |
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| Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment |
Origin |
Ohio Issue 1 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Ohio on November 4, 2008. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported changing the signature deadline for initiatives from 90 days before the election to 125 days before the election. |
A "no" vote opposed this constitutional amendment, thus keeping the signature deadline for initiatives at 90 days before the election. |
Election results
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Ohio Issue 1 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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3,397,389 | 68.67% | ||
| No | 1,550,365 | 31.33% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Issue 1 was as follows:
| “ | To provide for earlier filing deadlines for statewide ballot issues. To amend sections 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1g of Article II of the constitution of the state of Ohio. The proposed amendment would:
A “YES” vote means approval of the amendment. A “NO” vote means disapproval of the amendment. A majority YES vote is required for the amendment to be adopted. Shall the proposed amendment be approved? | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Support
Arguments
Official arguments
State Sen. Jon Peterson (R-2) and Rep. Dan Stewart (D-25) wrote the official argument in support of Issue 1:[1]
| “ |
A YES vote on Issue 1 saves taxpayer dollars, helps build voter confidence in elections, and eases elections administration. Issue 1 makes necessary, cost-saving improvements to elections deadlines for statewide ballot issues and should be approved for the following reasons: ISSUE 1 PREVENTS WASTE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS. In 2007, taxpayers paid more than $300,000 to advertise information about a ballot issue that ultimately did not qualify for the ballot. Additional expenditures were incurred by local boards of elections to verify signatures. Issue 1 helps prevent this wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars from occurring in the future by establishing firm deadlines for the administration of state ballot issues and resolving legal challenges. ISSUE 1 HELPS MAINTAIN VOTER CONFIDENCE IN ELECTIONS. Only statewide issues that qualify for voter consideration should be printed on the ballot. During the last two general elections, however, litigation had not concluded at the time ballots had to be printed so voters considered issues that were ultimately not counted. Issue 1’s new deadlines helps maintain voter confidence in elections by preventing this waste from occurring. ISSUE 1 PROMOTES EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE ELECTIONS. Issue 1 establishes clear timelines for filing and reviewing statewide issues petitions, and for filing legal challenges to those petitions. This helps ensure smoother and more efficient elections.[2] |
” |
Opposition
Arguments
Official arguments
As no opposing arguments were submitted for state's official ballot information report, the Ohio Ballot Board was required to write an argument:[1]
| “ |
Issue #1 creates delays in new laws taking effect. The Constitution reserves to the People the power to propose laws, amendments to the constitution, and to approve or reject laws passed by the legislature. Issue #1 creates earlier filing deadlines which can cause a referendum petition to effectively delay for months the effective date of a law passed by the legislature. This is because the deadline for filing a referendum petition depends on when the law being referred to the voters was passed by the legislature. If the deadline to file the petition is after the new proposed deadline in the Constitution, the law referred by the petition won’t be able to be on the ballot until the next election, which could be over a year away. The immediate effect of the filing of a referendum petition is to stop the law from going into effect until voters decide the issue at the ballot. State Issue #1 gives people with the money to circulate petitions for hundreds of thousands of signatures increased power over the state legislature to delay laws passed from going into effect for months or even more than a year. Issue #1 means More Expensive State Issue Campaigns. The delays caused by Issue #1 can be expensive. Putting the issues off so long may mean that large amounts of money will have to be spent to get the attention of voters. Millions of dollars are already being spent for issues that are fresh in the voters’ minds. More money is likely to be spent to inform voters when the issue is stale. With these powers reserved to the People, this proposed amendment makes it even more expensive and difficult for ordinary citizens to undertake the efforts to speak through the state initiative and referendum process. Vote NO on Issue #1.[2] |
” |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Ohio Constitution
A 60% vote is required during one legislative session for the Ohio State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 60 votes in the Ohio House of Representatives and 20 votes in the Ohio State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ohio Secretary of State, "Vote Yes on Issue 1," accessed June 2, 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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