Ohio House votes to put issue on August ballot making it harder to change constitution

COLUMBUS — Ohio House voted Wednesday to send a measure making it harder to change the constitution to voters in August.

It will ask Ohioans to vote on Tuesday, Aug. 8, on whether or not to raise the approval threshold to amend the Ohio Constitution to 60 percent of the vote, rather than 50 percent plus one.

The Ohio Statehouse resounded with protests before the House voted to approve the resolution, the Associated Press reported.

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“Today is a great day for democracy. Ohioans are grateful that the Ohio House and Ohio Senate trust “we the people” by creating an election for all of us to self-determine what Ohio’s future may look like,” a statement by Ohio Right to Life’s President Michael Gonidakis, stated in response to the decision.

“This amendment is a political ploy – designed by special interests and politicians to get voters to give up their rights under false pretenses,” a statement by Protect One Person One Vote coalition, a “grassroots, citizen-driven no partisan” coalition, stated.

The constitutional change is opposed by every living ex-governor of the state, both Republican and Democratic former attorneys general and the Ohio Libertarian Party, according to the AP.

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