What is Issue 1 All About

10/09/24

What is Issue 1 all about?

Ohio is one of 18 states that allows citizen-initiated ballot amendments to the state constitution. However, "citizen initiated" is a bit of a misnomer because while anyone can technically start the process to gather signatures and submita proposed amendment for Ohio voters to vote on, what usually happens is well-funded interest groups typically bankroll the teamsof folks who go out asking people for the signatures. You may have seen these signature-gatherers outside grocery stores in the parking lot or outside sports stadiums. These interest groups on either side of the issue will pump in money in support of one position or the other, and the majority ofmoney funding staff and political ads is pumped in from out of state.

Ohio is typically a target for initiating ballot amendments because it is considered one of the easiest states to change the state constitution by voter referendum. A constitutional amendment is also the strongest form of public policy that supersedes any legislation passed by the legislature and signed into law by the Governor.Once the constitution is amended by this process, it is incredibly hard to undo (through another ballot amendment rescinding the first).

Whether you are voting in the ballot box early or on election day, or you are planning to vote by a mail-in ballot, you will see Issue 1with an opportunity to vote Yes or No on it. There will be some summary language on the page you make your vote selection, however this is a particularly politically charged issue.

Background:The buzz word that Issue 1 is focused on is "gerrymandering", which is the act of when district maps and borders are drawn in a way to favor one party. In Ohio, the legislature draws the electoralmaps. Republicans currently hold what are called super-majorities in both the Ohio House and Senate and therefore control the map-drawing process. In 2018, Ohio voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot issue and constitutional amendment that inserted more fair criteria for drawing electoral maps. It also required bipartisan buy-in to establishthe normal 10-year maps, but if bipartisan agreement wasn'tthere then the map would be a 4-year map. The maps were redrawn in 2021 based off population counts in the 2020 census, since every House District or Senate District needs roughly thesame population count in each. After a handful of years of "constitutionality" fights over the maps, eventually the current maps were approved and alsoapproved by the Ohio Supreme Court when they reviewed legal challenges. Fast forward to this 2024 Issue 1, the groups who had levied the legal challenges to the maps funded this new ballot amendment campaign. If passed, this Issue 1 ballot amendment would create an independent commission to review and approve the maps and changingthe current process significantly.

Proponentsof Issue 1 are largely Democrat-affiliatedgroups. Since Democrats are in the super-minority in the Ohio legislature, they have very littlesay in the electoral map-drawing process. This side argues that the Republican super-majorities simply gerrymander and draw maps that heavily favor Republicans. In their eyes, an independent commission would place a check on gerrymandering.

Opponentsof Issue 1 are largely Republican-affiliatedgroups. These folks argue that there is no such thing as a true "independent"government commission, and that if Ohio voters largely voteRepublican then they already have a fair and democratic process to elect the people who are in charge ofdrawing the maps. Moreover, the members of the independent commission are not voted in and are powerful yet unelected bureaucrats.

Fun Fact:The Ohio state legislature is also in charge of redrawing the federal Congressional map, which is a big factorof why national groups care about Issue 1.

Bonus Fun Fact:In 2018, Missouri also passed a ballot amendment aimed at creating a more fairredistricting process for their maps. After it became clear the new rules were actually terrible, voters quickly and overwhelmingly repealed and replaced them with another ballot amendment in 2020.

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