Here is Pastor Tim’s article which appeared in the Evening Leader on Tuesday, August 15, 2023
I am sure you have heard by now that Issue 1 did not pass in Ohio. According to the Columbus Dispatch, the final percentage was 57% of voters voted no and 43% voted yes. Here in Auglaize County, we voted overwhelmingly for Issue 1, 75% yes to 25% no. Before I offer my comments on this, let me tell you what this means.
Issue 1 would have changed the way our State Constitution is amended. Had it been adopted; we would have needed a 60% majority to change the Constitution. Even getting proposed Constitutional changes on the ballot would have been changed. Issue 1 would have mandated that each county in Ohio would have had to collect signatures from 5% of the possible voters before the change could have went to a vote. As it stands now, to get a change to the constitution on the ballot, you need a base number of signatures, and they must represent 5% of the voting population in 44 of Ohio’s 88 ballots. Had Issue 1 been adopted, it would have required 5% of all 88 counties in order to even vote on a proposed change to the Constitution.
What that means in practical terms is that changes to the Ohio Constitution would have had to have support from all 88 counties. As it remains now, support only needs to come from half the counties. It is possible that changes to the constitution can end up on a ballot without any input from smaller counties.
This exact point was illustrated by how the vote came out. Issue 1 was defeated when only 22 of the 88 counties had more people vote against it than for it. Issue 1 was defeated when 66 of the 88 counties voted against it. Now, I am not saying we need to change the rules. Issue 1 was fairly and rightly defeated based on the rules established prior to the vote. I am not saying that there were any shenanigans or anything else. Issue 1 was simply defeated. What I am pointing out is that this is the exact problem Issue 1 was attempting to address. What 66 of the 88 counties in Ohio voted for was not adopted, proving that the discrepancy Issue 1 would have addressed is real.
I voted for Issue 1 and 75% of you who voted in that special election did as well, yet Issue 1 was defeated. There has been a lot of football spiking going on about this in progressive politics camps, as well there should be. The defeat of Issue 1 is a win for them because making changes to the Constitution of the State of Ohio is based on a much smaller sampling of people, and you can bet that we will see many proposed constitutional changes in the next few years. Changes that will make it on the ballot without a single endorsement from anyone here in Auglaize County and can be ratified into the Constitution even with 75% of people like you and I voting against it.
This is not a call to just give up. This is a call to get out and vote. While I believe it was an intentionally misleading lie that I even fell for at first, the slogan for the campaign to defeat Issue 1 was “one person, one vote” a slogan taken from other voting movements from the past. The narrative that slogan promoted was that everyone’s vote should count, so I say, let’s make them all count. When there is a vote, get out and vote. I know that for a special election like this, there was low voter turnout, but these things matter, and they will matter more in years to come. We should not allow elections to be determined by the higher population areas. Those areas are going to get higher numbers of voters to turnout, which means if we want to make an impact, then we must maximize our number of voters. The claim is, voting down Issue 1 will allow your voice to be heard, but keep in mind that only happens if you cast a vote. If you don’t vote at all, then there is nothing to be heard. The only way this country can reflect your opinion is if you vote. That goes for both sides of the aisle on any issue, not voting is a vote for the side you disagree with.
As the constitutional changes inevitably come, make an effort to be informed about them and make sure you vote. Here in Auglaize County, we may not have the numbers that urban counties have, but at the very least, you can go cancel out the vote of someone you disagree with. Voting is the only voice you have, don’t go silent on your country now.