Ohio scrambles ahead of August election over constitution changes: NPR

Supporters and opponents of a GOP-backed measure that would make it harder to change the Ohio Constitution filled the Statehouse rotunda on May 10 in Columbus. This measure is scheduled for a special election in August.

Samantha Hendrickson/AP

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Samantha Hendrickson/AP

Supporters and opponents of a GOP-backed measure that would make it harder to change the Ohio Constitution filled the Statehouse rotunda on May 10 in Columbus. This measure is scheduled for a special election in August.

Samantha Hendrickson/AP

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Aubrey Fox has worked the last eight elections as a scrutineer in Lakewood, a suburb west of Cleveland.

“It’s something I do a few vacation days a year,” Fox said. “I love being part of democracy.”

But Fox says it plans to boycott a recently announced special election scheduled for August, a move that was a turnaround for Republican lawmakers in the state.

“I think it’s wrong and I don’t want to participate,” Fox said.

The August election also drew opposition from local election officials. A GOP-backed state law that took effect in April made a number of voting changes, including banning most August special elections. But on May 10, Republican lawmakers approved a statewide vote next August to decide on a resolution to make it harder to amend the Ohio Constitution.

Republicans want voters to raise the approval threshold for future amendments to the Ohio Constitution by a simple majority to 60%, ahead of a possible November ballot measure to codify abortion rights into the constitution . A group of doctors and citizens are currently collecting signatures to put an abortion rights amendment on the November ballot.

The resolution that would be decided in August would also make it much more difficult for groups to stand for election in the future by requiring signatures from every county in the state, not half the counties as is currently the case. .

The decision to hold a special election in August furious democratswho are in the minority in the Legislature, and have brought hundreds to the Ohio Statehouse to protest.

Now, local election commissions are trying to find polling places that may no longer be available and recruiting tens of thousands of tellers at a time when many people are on vacation.

“We already have three polling places that are normal polling places for us that just won’t be able to accommodate us because they’ve already booked other functions and we can’t remove them,” said Jeff Rezabek, the director. of the Montgomery County Board of Elections in Dayton and a former Republican state legislator.

Like others in the state, the 28 employees at Rezabek’s Dayton office are dealing with changes in this new election law, such as stricter voter ID rules and shorter deadlines for ballots. postal vote. And they’re getting ready for the day too After the August special election, which is the deadline for submitting local nominations and stakes for the November election.

The bipartisan group representing Ohio election officials opposes this August special election. Frankie DiCarlantonio is a Democratic member of the Jefferson County Board of Elections, which has six employees. He says these workers are tired of the constant change of recent years.

“Election officials are tired of having to do this,” DiCarlantonio said. “I don’t want to give the impression that we’re going to fall apart this year in terms of the Ohio election. However, that’s unfair to election officials. We’re probably going to see even more people leave this area because it provides, to be honest, horrible quality of life for individuals.You don’t know about holidays.You don’t know your opening hours if you have an election or if you don’t.

Only a handful of election officials have challenged their statewide group and publicly said they support the August vote.

Tony Schroeder serves on the Board of Elections for rural Putnam County in northwest Ohio. His office has only a few employees. But he said voters deserved to weigh in on this constitutional amendment change now.

“If the voters of Ohio, in their wisdom, decide to raise the threshold for amending the constitution, they will. And if they decide they don’t, they will vote against it,” Schroeder said. . “We give them the choice. That’s what I’m in favor of.”

The August vote is also backed by Ohio’s election chief, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who testified last year in favor of eliminating most August special elections. Since his re-election last fall, he has pushed for this increase in the constitutional approval threshold as he considers a race for the Republican nomination for the US Senate.

The day after lawmakers voted to put the upper-threshold amendment to voters, LaRose ordered election commissions to prepare for that August vote. Election officials are therefore beginning to receive emails asking if they are available.

Sarah Riegel is in Franklin County in Columbus, where she’s been her polling station’s poll worker for years. And she will be there on August 8th.

“Leaving aside my personal political views on this election and why it’s happening, if it’s going to happen, we want it to go as well as possible,” Riegel said. “So hopefully the board of elections and the election officials can, you know, organize something before August.”

The August special election is facing a legal challenge in the Ohio Supreme Court. But already, groups have started organizing their campaigns for and against the higher threshold ahead of what could be a big vote on abortion access this fall.