COLUMBUS, Ohio — State lawmakers in the House and Senate have passed a proposal to put a measure on a special election ballot in August to require a 60% supermajority of Ohio voters to amend the state’s constitution, a move some lawmakers hope will make it less likely that voters will make abortion legal in November.
The 62-37 House vote came as hundreds of protesters demonstrated in the rotunda of the Statehouse before the session opened Wednesday afternoon and after House Democrats stood and started a chant against the vote. The chamber’s gallery was cleared, and the vote resumed shortly after.
Four Republicans joined all Democrats in voting against the resolution. Reps. Jamie Callender (R-Concord), Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville), Jeff LaRe (R-Violet Twp.) and Tom Patton (R-Strongsville) were three short colleagues away from preventing the proposal from moving forward.
"This brazen, undemocratic power grab will not stand," Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, said following the vote.
There were more than 250 bipartisan groups against this amendment, and hundreds chanting all throughout the session.
One of the reasons why so many are angry is because of the timing. Republicans want to get this in front of voters before an amendment on reproductive rights potentially makes the November ballot.
"There's some theatrics and that's people's prerogative," State Rep. Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) said. "But we're very pleased with how today went."
Stewart and anti-abortion groups say unhappy citizens can make their voices heard at the ballot box in August.
The resolution was sent over to the Senate shortly after, where the changes made by the House were easily passed. Sec. of State Frank LaRose sent out the directive to boards of elections to get ready for August a few hours later.
Senate Joint Resolution 2 would make it harder to amend the Ohio constitution. It would require constitutional amendment initiative petitions to receive a 60% supermajority vote of citizens to pass instead of the simple 50% +1.
Assuming it survives any legal challenges, the resolution, which was amended to include language establishing a special August 8 election, would take effect if voted into law on that date, ironically, by a simple majority of 50% +1 Ohio voters.
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The rule requiring only a 50% majority of voters to change the constitution has been in place in Ohio since 1912.
If approved by voters, an amendment to the state constitution to keep abortion legal in Ohio, which is expected to be on the ballot in November, would need a 60% supermajority of Ohio voters to pass.
AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of over 90,000 midterm election voters across the country, found 59% of Ohio voters say abortion should generally be legal.
Backers of the measures argued publicly that the supermajority requirement would prevent deep-pocketed interest groups from targeting Ohio's founding document, but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have confirmed to News 5 the effort is ultimately meant to stop abortion from becoming legal, even if a majority of Ohioans vote in favor of it in November.
However, even with SJR2 passed, it may not survive various legal challenges.
"We are looking at that because it's absolutely illegal to call for an August election in a resolution, a joint resolution," Jen Miller with the League of Women Voters of Ohio said.
Advocacy groups are looking to sue because Ohio just got rid of August special elections a few months ago, and legal expert Jonathan Entin says they have a good case.
"I don't see any way that you can read that language and say, therefore, the legislature can say, we're going to have a vote on this constitutional amendment on August 8th," Entin said. "It doesn't compute."
The ACLU's legal team claims because the resolution was amended to include an August special election, it is not legal because the resolution itself can't change laws. The lawmakers technically need to pass actual legislation, an actual statute, to have an August special election, the League of Women Voters said.
“A plain reading of the Ohio Revised Code says no public official shall conduct an election other than the time, place, and manner prescribed in state law," ACLU's Collin Marozzi said. "The law is definitive that an August special election can only be held if a local taxing jurisdiction is in fiscal emergency. No other election or issue can be placed on an August special election ballot without a change in state law, and simply adding language to a joint resolution does not change this fact."
That view would need to be litigated, which could take time Entin said. A lawsuit could effectively stop the chance of an August special election, he added.
"There wouldn't be time to get organized," Entin said.
The House leadership says their legal team has already looked into this.
"It's a solid resolution and should be able to withstand any legal challenge", Speaker Jason Stephens said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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