Ohio abortion foes are banking on a low-turnout August election. In Kansas, that didn't go so well.
Supporters of the push to make it a lot harder for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution have given many, sometimes-inconsistent reasons for wanting to do it. But clearly a major one is to try to block an abortion-rights amendment that is currently in the works.
To pull off the maneuver, abortion opponents are trying to partially repeal a ban on August elections they passed just months ago so they can put the amendment on the ballot in a low-turnout contest. But the last time anti-abortion groups tried something like that it blew up in their faces — in a state that is considerably more conservative than Ohio.
In the face of intense public opposition, Ohio House Republicans are coming down to the wire as they decide whether to put a measure on the August ballot that would raise the portion of votes needed to pass a constitutional amendment from 50% to 60%.
It also would make it far harder for voters to get amendments on the ballot by requiring that a certain number of the already-huge number signatures needed come from each of Ohio’s 88 counties. That’s twice as many as the current 44.
There are constituencies beyond the anti-abortion movement behind the effort to restrict access to the state Constitution. The Ohio Restaurant Association is supporting it as efforts gather steam to pass an amendment raising the state minimum wage to $15 an hour. The Buckeye Firearms Association, which fears gun-control amendments, is backing it as well.
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/05/08/ohio-abortion-foes-are-banking-on-a-low-turnout-august-election-in-kansas-that-didnt-go-so-well/
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