In an effort to thwart abortion rights advocates and redistricting reformers, Republicans in the Ohio Senate approved a constitutional amendment on Wednesday that would make it harder for voters to pass their own amendments. The proposal still has to go before the full state House after Republicans passed it in committee there, though if it passes there as well, Ohioans will have the chance to weigh in on these new restrictions before they can become law.
However, Republicans are also trying to tilt the playing field in their favor by putting their amendment on the ballot in an August special election, when they hope turnout will be low. That election would take place ahead of a possible vote to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution, which organizers are hoping to put before voters in November. If successful, the new Republican amendment would require a 60% supermajority to pass any future amendments, including the abortion measure—even though it would only take a simple majority to adopt the GOP’s amendment.
And that’s precisely their objective. Republicans have been explicit about their true motivations after a top sponsor was caught telling his colleagues that his amendment was squarely intended to block the abortion rights and redistricting reform proposals currently in the works. The abortion measure’s proponents are already gathering signatures, while redistricting reform could appear on the ballot in November of next year, which threatens to deprive the GOP of the gerrymandered three-fifths supermajorities that they needed to put their amendment on the ballot in the first place.