With Abortion Rights on the Line, an August Special Election Has Ohio Election Offices Scrambling
The tight timeframe was imposed by Republican lawmakers, who reversed a new law that had taken effect in January to eliminate August elections. In May, they added the Aug. 8 special election for a measure that seeks to make it harder to amend the state’s constitution. If passed, the amendment would raise the threshold for passing future constitutional changes from a simple majority, as it’s been for more than a century, to 60%.
Republicans’ immediate goal is to make it harder for voters to pass an abortion rights amendment that is in the works for November.Other brewing constitutional amendments also could be affected, including efforts to legalize recreational marijuana, increase the minimum wage, reform Ohio’s redistricting system and limit vaccine mandates.
More: With abortion rights on the line, an August special election has Ohio election offices scrambling