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On The Ground In Ohio: Issue 1 (Second Episode) [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-11-03
A review of the previous episode...
Our first installment ( On the Ground in Ohio, August 23 ) reported the lead-up to the August election on Issue 1. (We were against that Issue 1.). It’s time to provide an update on the efforts in preparation for the November election on Issue 1 (We’re in favor of this Issue 1!)
There was only going to be a single Issue 1, the one coming up on November 7. That Issue 1 would amend the state Constitution with guarantees of the right to make one’s own reproductive health decisions. But Ohio’s Republican legislature quickly created a different amendment that would require that any subsequent amendment be passed with a 60% vote (the current threshold for passage is 50%+1). That amendment would have to be voted on before the other amendment (to guarantee reproductive rights) was voted on. That meant a special election would be needed.
But the Republican legislature had voted, the year before, to prohibit special elections; too expensive, they said. So, they needed to pass a new bill allowing special elections that would overturn the previous bill that prohibited special elections. And they did. Then the Republicans passed language for an amendment that would require a 60% vote to pass any subsequent amendment, including one that would be voted on a few months later. After that, the Republicans quickly scheduled a special election for their new amendment. The vote was to be for or against Issue 1. A vote of “No” was the correct vote. The good guys got out the vote and Issue 1 was defeated. A majority vote would be all that’s needed to pass the amendment we want, the one that protects reproductive freedom
Which brings us to...
Now, we are getting out the vote again for the election that was always to be held on November 7. But this time, we’re working to get citizens to vote for Issue 1…but a different Issue 1.. (A skeptical person might think that all this confusion about which Issue 1 to vote against and which to vote for was part of the plan.)
Cheating...
But the forces of darkness haven’t been idle after their August defeat. The Ohio Ballot Board is charged with developing the ballot language for issues that are put in front of Ohio voters. The Board is chaired by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who has been energetic in his efforts to sink the reproductive rights amendment. Continuing their efforts to keep their thumbs on the scales, the Republicans on the Board voted for language that is deliberately misleading in a number of ways. For example, any mention of the other reproductive health decisions protected by the amendment – fertility treatments, contraception, pregnancy and miscarriage care – was excluded. The word “fetus” was replaced with “unborn child.”
Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights sued to have the original amendment language, which was used on the petitions signed by nearly 800,000 registered voters, placed on the ballot. The majority Republican Supreme Court ruled that the changed (and biased) language be kept, with a few minor alterations.
The impact of the changed language is significant. ACLU Ohio reports:
An Ohio Northern University poll released Friday found that while voters are still more likely than not to support an abortion amendment in the Nov. 7 election, the margin narrows considerably when comparing the language that will be on voters’ ballots versus the language of the amendment itself. The poll … found that unaffiliated and independent voters are most likely to be affected by the language.”
Frank LaRose, it seems, wasn’t finished with his dishonest attempts to swing the vote in favor of the forces of darkness. He recently carried out a hurried purge of 27,000 people from the voting rolls. In contrast to past practice, the purge wasn’t announced in advance.
In Ohio, if you're purged from the voter rolls, you must re-register no fewer than 30 days prior to the election. So if that deadline is missed, someone who could have voted before the purge is now ineligible until they re-register and then must wait until the next election. ( In previous voter purges, 20% of the deleted voters were removed in error.) LaRose had ordered county election boards not to remove voters from the rolls prior to the August election.
And Lies...
As one might imagine, the battle in the media around Issue 1 has been intense. The right has been unremitting in spreading outright lies about the proposed amendment and what it will or won’t allow. Governor Mike DeWine and his wife star in one of the ads . After telling us that they’ve “studied the issue”, they trot out a series of falsehoods about the amendment. First, they tell us that the amendment would allow abortions up to birth. Then we’re told that the amendment prohibits parents from being involved in their children’s health care decisions. Finally, they tell us that Issue 1 “goes too far”. This from a man who signed a bill prohibiting abortions even for incest or rape. (Remember, the tragic story of the 10-year-old who was forced to go to another state to abort the fetus implanted by her rapist took place in this state.)
Other ads falsely warn of “abortion on demand” and “dismemberment of fully conscious children” if Issue 1 is passed. A Republican blog on the Ohio Senate website, which is sustained through taxpayer dollars, has posted similar misinformation about Issue 1.
But we continue to fight the good fight!
Fortunately, the pro-Issue 1 campaign has the resources to battle this onslaught of lies. Campaign filings show that Issue 1 proponents have “ handily outearned and outspent opponents of the abortion rights amendment …” Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights raised almost $40M through mid-October. It has spent just over $26M on ads and publicity. In contrast, Issue 1 opponents raised $27 million through mid-October and spent just under $24.3 million.
My local Indivisible group, here in Summit County, continues to be active in this battle. We’ve been phone banking, canvassing, texting, and putting out signs with the same energy we brought to the August campaign. We have reason to be optimistic. Ohioans favor the amendment. A recent poll conducted by Baldwin Wallace University found :
“58% of likely voters for the November 7 election favor passage of Issue 1… Issue 1 is favored by 89% of Democrats, 39% of Republicans and 51% of independents. In addition, 65% of parents, 54% of gun owners and 37% of evangelicals support Issue 1. Only 8% of respondents were undecided.”
Further, early voting, usually good for Democrats and progressive causes, has been high, especially in blue counties.
Still, we’re not taking anything for granted. The campaign for reproductive rights will be running hard through the finish line on November 7.
[END]
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