Ohio is having a special election this year on August 8 and on the ballot is one issue that everyone will be voting on.
On July 11, early voting for this special election officially began with both in-person and absentee voting.
In-person voting before election day will be open throughout the week and the Saturday and Sunday before election day at your local board of elections office.
Absentee ballots are also available for early voting and must be completed and turned into your local board of elections office by 8:30 p.m. if in person or postmarked by August 7 if mailing it in.
For everyone planning on voting on election day, the polls will be open on August 8 at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.
The one issue that is on this year’s special election ballot in Ohio is labeled as State Issue 1.
According to the portable document file that is available on the official Ohio Secretary of State government website Issue 1 would “Require that any proposed amendment to the Constitution of the State of Ohio receive the approval of at least 60 percent of eligible voters voting on the proposed amendment.”
It states secondly that it would “Require that any initiative petition filed on or after January 1, 2024, with the Secretary of State proposing to amend the Constitution of the State of Ohio be signed by at least five percent of the electors of each county based on the total vote in the county for governor in the last preceding election.”
Thirdly the document states this issue if passed it would “Specify that additional signatures may not be added to an initiative petition proposing to amend the Constitution of the State of Ohio that is filed with the Secretary of State on or after January 1, 2024, proposing to amend the Constitution of the State of Ohio.”
For this special election issue on the ballot, the sections of the state of Ohio’s constitution that are included to be amended if passed are section 1b, 1e and 1g of Article II.
The remaining sections that would be amended if passed are sections one and three of Article XVI.
If the issue shall pass Article II sections listed that would be amended would essentially move from a majority vote to at least sixty percent of voting electors to approve of any amendment.
According to the proposed constitutional amendment document “Any proposed amendment to the constitution submitted to the electors as provided in sections 1a and 1b of this article, if approved by at least sixty percent of the electors voting thereon, shall take effect thirty days after the election at which it was approved and shall be published by the secretary of state.”
Issue 1 also states that if passed there would be a new threshold of needing at least five percent or more signatures from electors of a county when a petition is brought forward regarding a proposed state constitution amendment.
The state issued document states that “Except that upon an initiative petition proposing an amendment to the constitution, it shall be necessary to file from each county of the state petitions bearing the signatures of not less than five percent of the electors of the county.”
This state document also states that if this issue shall be passed and adopted the proposed amendments listed will go into effect as soon as possible.
To view the portable document file that explains the issue on the ballot and what amendments are included it is located on the Ohio Secretary of States’ official website https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/about-this-election/.
