Don't be fooled about Issue #1!
There is a great deal of confusion circulating in Darke Countyregarding Issue #1. There’s also a great deal of deception aboutit, but more on that in a moment.

The progressives areplaying a two-step game with the Ohio Constitution: one step inAUGUST (defeating Issue #1), and one step in NOVEMBER (passing theThe Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health andSafety amendment to the Ohio Constitution).
Let’s talk aboutthe second step first, the NOVEMBER step.
The progressives areproposing an amendment to the Ohio Constitution that will putchildren and the unborn at risk. This amendment has the very realpotential of taking a child’s gender identity, medical gendertransition decisions, and abortion decisions, out of the hands of theparents. The language of the amendment is intentionally very vague,and open to wide-ranging interpretation. This amendment will be votedon in NOVEMBER.
I will write asecond article in a few days explaining why this terrible“Reproductive Freedom” amendment is an unmitigateddisaster for parents and children, and must be defeated. Asthings stand now, all that is necessary for that terrible amendmentto become enshrined in the Ohio Constitution is a simple majorityvote (fifty percent plus one vote) in NOVEMBER.
Which brings us tothe first step. The progressives want to defeat Issue #1 in AUGUST.They want you to vote NO to Issue #1. Why?
Because Issue #1raises the bar for amending the Ohio Constitution. In other words, ifIssue #1 passes in AUGUST, it will make it harder to pass theReproductive Freedom amendment in November.
I’ll expose theefforts to mislead the voters practiced by these people in just amoment, but first I will state the matter simply:
YES on Issue #1 inAUGUST will make it harder for the progressives to win in NOVEMBER.
NO on Issue #1 inAUGUST will make it much easier for the progressives to win inNOVEMBER.
Issue #1 is aboutmaking it more difficult for special interests groups to trample onthe rights of the rest of us. At the present time, a mere majorityvote (fifty percent plus 1 vote) is all that is required topermanently amend the Ohio Constitution. Issue #1 would have twoprincipal effects: it would raise the bar to sixty percent. It wouldalso make it more difficult to get a proposed amendment initiative onthe ballot, by requiring the signatures of at least five percent ofthe voters in every county in the state (five percentbased on the total number of votes in the last gubernatorial electionin each particular county).
Before we expose thebasic dishonesty of the ad campaigns that the progressives arepublishing, let’s take a moment to understand the relationship ofthe Ohio Constitution to legislative acts. The Constitution is thecitizen’s first line of defense against unwise, unfair, orunconstitutional legislation. When a legal case is brought thatchallenges a state law, the state judiciary uses the text and wordsof the Constitution to determine whether the law in question shouldbe upheld, or struck down in whole or in part.
If citizens believethat the Constitution is not adequately protecting their rights, orbelieve that laws have been passed that are unjust, they can attemptto gather enough signatures to put a constitutional amendmentinitiative on the ballot to correct the problem. Once the amendmentis on the ballot, if a sufficient number of citizens vote for it, itbecomes part of the Constitution, providing boundaries around whatthe Legislature may and may not enact.
A well-writtenConstitution protects the rights of the citizens, including thehelpless and vulnerable, against powerful individuals or specialinterests whose priorities collide with those of the citizens.Consequently, the Constitution is not a document that should beeasily tinkered with. It should be protected by making it harder toamend.
What about mycharges of deception?
#1. The League ofWomen voters is posting an advertisement entitled, “ProtectOhio’s Constitution, Vote No on Issue 1.” It is true thatthe current Constitution can be amended by simple majority. Issue #1would change that, raising the bar from 50% to 60%. The higherrequirement does a better job of protecting the Constitution frompowerful special interest groups. At the very least, League’s claimis misleading. Voting down Issue #1 does not protect theConstitution, but leaves it in its current state of vulnerability topowerful, well-heeled special interest groups, like PlannedParenthood and other sexual revolutionaries.
#2. That same adclaims that passage of Issue #1 eliminates majority rule in Ohio. Itdoes not. Another ad claims that Issue #1 would allow 40% of votersto “make decisions for the rest of us.” Totally false. Normallegislative acts in Columbus would continue to pass with a simplemajority, as they do now. Issue #1 would not change that atall.
If the progressiveswant laws that favor their ideology, they can propose and pass themin the Legislature with a simple majority vote. Issue #1 will notchange that! But they should not be allowed to tinker with theConstitution on the basis of a simple majority. By the way, askyourself, why do the bylaws of the League of Women Voters require atwo-thirds vote to change them, when that same organization wants aState Constitution protecting the rights of millions to be changed atthe whim of a simple majority? What happened to “one person, onevote”?
And as long as we’retalking about majority rule, ask yourself: has there ever been a timein America where a majority oppressed a minority? How did that turnout? Not good at all. Do you really think it’s a good thing toenshrine that possibility of oppression in the Ohio StateConstitution? I don’t.
#3. That same adclaims that Issue #1’s passage “will render the ability topresent a voter-led petition virtually impossible.” That’s atotally false claim. Issue #1 only raises the bar regarding petitionsthat propose to amend the Constitution—but not for other petitions.The text of Issue #1 is explicit: “Require that any initiativepetition filed on or after January 1, 2024 with the Secretary ofState proposing to amend the Constitution ofthe State of Ohio be signed by at least five percent of the electorsof each county based on the total vote in the county for governor inthe last preceding election.”
The problem for theprogressives is the requirement in Issue #1 that sufficientsignatures be collected from ALL of Ohio’s counties. Issue #1 doesin fact require that, but it only applies to initiatives toamend the Constitution, not to other ballot initiatives. Ibelieve this portion of the Issue #1 language would actually benefitall Ohioans, not just those in large cities. Ask yourself: does itoften wind up being the case that the voters in Columbus orCincinnati or even Dayton have a very different set of values fromthe voters in Darke County? Do you want a few large cities to be ableto crowbar the state Constitution in liberal, progressive directions?Wouldn’t it be more fair if ALL the counties of the state had avoice as to whether or not an amendment initiative to theConstitution was placed on the ballot? This is what Issue #1 wouldaccomplish.
I’m voting YES forIssue #1, and so should you.
In my next piece, Iwill explain the disaster that will face Ohio parents in November ifIssue #1 does not pass.
VOTEYES FOR ISSUE #1
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