The Observation Deck

It's been years since I've posted anything, but I thought this was rather important.

I'm worried that the future of democracy in Ohio is at a horribly dangerous intersection.

This spring there was an initiative petition circulating to replace the Ohio redistricting commission made up of elected officials with a appointed commission tasked with following a specific formula to dissolve gerrymandered districts. Under close scrutiny it would appear to be an honest attempt to help restore some amount of government representation to Ohio voters that have gone so long without.

https://citizensnotpoliticians.org/wp-c ... or-Web.pdf

I just read the certified ballot language and it does not describe the initiative. The language is more than misleading, it a full on insult to the very foundation of our election system.

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/wp-conte ... uage-1.pdf

I dug around a bit in the Ohio constitution to see if there is any recourse for us as Ohio voters against ballot language fraud. Imitative petitions appear to have the same protections as those drawn up by the general assembly:

The Ohio constitution Section 1G, Article II: "Petition requirements and preparation; submission; ballot language; by Ohio ballot board"
"The ballot language shall be prescribed by the Ohio ballot board in the same manner, and subject to the same terms and conditions, as apply to issues submitted by the general assembly pursuant to Section 1 of Article XVI of this constitution."

The Ohio constitution Section 1, Article XVI:"Constitutional amendment proposed by joint resolution of General Assembly; procedure"
"The Supreme Court shall have exclusive, original jurisdiction in all cases challenging the adoption or submission of a proposed constitutional amendment to the electors. No such case challenging the ballot language, the explanation, or the actions or procedures of the General Assembly in adopting and submitting a constitutional amendment shall be filed later than sixty-four days before the election. The ballot language shall not be held invalid unless it is such as to mislead, deceive, or defraud the voters."

As of Aug 20th, there are 76 days before the election. There are 12 days to file a challenge.

Anyone know how to file a challenge?

Started digging around, the Ohio Supreme court doesn't make it easy for an average citizen to air a grievance with elected officials. Pretty good barrier there.

I was able to get as far a figuring that a "writ of mandamus" would need to be filed. That translates to "order from a court to correct an abuse" or more plainly forces an elected official to do their job.

I did find that such a writ has already been filed with the court (Original action in mandamus pursuant to article XVI, section 1...):
https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/Clerk ... /2024/1200

Mark Timieski wrote:Started digging around, the Ohio Supreme court doesn't make it easy for an average citizen to air a grievance with elected officials. Pretty good barrier there.

I was able to get as far a figuring that a "writ of mandamus" would need to be filed. That translates to "order from a court to correct an abuse" or more plainly forces an elected official to do their job.

I did find that such a writ has already been filed with the court (Original action in mandamus pursuant to article XVI, section 1...):
https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/Clerk ... /2024/1200

Nice follow up and nice visit here.

It would be great if we could just let things happen. But in Ohio and elsewhere we must stay constantly vigilant, or we could lose it all.

Let's see what happens.

.

This is one of those correct-me-if-i'm-wrong posts:
I've read elsewhere that while the ballot language of Issue 1 is purposefully confounding (we've seen that movie before), but with a twist, the actual amendment language is sound, or at least, good enough.
So, what is the story?

Yes. The actual amendment appears extremely reasonable, but voters don't see that on the ballot.

What's the best strategy? Fight the ballot language, or press forward in the little time that's left?

Good question. Hope for the best. Try to keep up on facts. Vote, and try to find honest candidates that represent voters.

The group that initiated the petition has filed suite in hopes of correcting the ballot language.

The next is to read the actual amendment:

https://citizensnotpoliticians.org/wp-c ... or-Web.pdf


The ballot board has un-elected and elected members, elected members that voted for the ballot language are:
Secretary of State Frank LaRose (should be up for election in 2026, chair of Ballot Board and author of the ballot text)
State Sen. Theresa Gavarone (should be up for election in 2024, but her district does not include Lakewood)

To give an example of the misdirection, here is a section of the ballot language (what voters will see):

4.) Prevent a commission member from being removed, except by a vote of their fellow commission members, even for incapacity, willful neglect of duty or gross misconduct.

So can a commission member be removed for gross conduct? I can’t tell from the above, doesn’t sound like it.

Here is the corresponding text of the actual amendment (voters won’t see this):

(C) A commissioner shall be removed only by the commission and only for cause after notice, a public hearing, and an opportunity for members of the public to comment. Any of the following shall be cause for removal:
(1) Knowing failure to disclose information pursuant to section 3 of this article;
(2) Willful disregard for the provisions in section 5 of this article;
(3) Wanton and willful neglect of duty or gross misconduct or malfeasance in office;
(4) Incapacity or inability to perform his or her duties; or
(5) Behavior involving moral turpitude or other acts that undermine the public’s trust in the commission and the redistricting process.

Got my mail-in ballot, still called "absentee" by the state, and I noticed that besides all the other problems with the Issue 1 ballot language, the compressed font used for the entire ballot makes the wordy Issue 1 all the more difficult to read. Since from everything I've learned here, it's best to ignore the ballot language and just vote for the the Amendment for gerrymandering reform. Separate from the ballot, that legal language is fine.