A major battleground state is already seeing huge voter turnout over a Republican-led ballot initiative to protect the state’s constitution from left-wing activists.
According to Fox News, Ohio voters will decide on a ballot issue Tuesday that would make it more difficult to alter the state’s constitution.
Conservatives in the state say the change is necessary to protect residents from a radical anti-gun, abortion, and education agenda that may soon spread to other states, the outlet reported.
This issue has already led to a substantial early voter turnout, putting pressure on election offices as they work to manage the increased load.
“This is gubernatorial-level turnout,” Regine Johnson, deputy director of the board of elections in Stark County, told the network.
As of Wednesday, The Associated Press reported that over 533,000 individuals had cast their votes either by mail or in person since early voting commenced on July 11. The figure is nearly double the final early voting count from Ohio’s two preceding midterm primary elections, which encompassed races for governor and Congress.
Currently, Ohio ballot measures aiming to amend the state constitution require only a simple majority of 50% plus one vote to pass. However, if State Issue 1 is approved, this threshold would be raised to 60%. Supporters of this change, mostly conservatives, argue that it is necessary to safeguard the state from external groups seeking to alter the constitution too easily.
“At its core, it’s about keeping out-of-state special interest groups from buying their way into our constitution, which we’re seeing happen far too often,” Amy Natoce, press secretary for Protect Women Ohio, told the outlet. “They’re circumventing the legislative process and going directly after the constitution.”
Democratic opponents have countered that the ballot measure would strip power from voters and shift it towards politicians.
“The purpose of Issue 1 is to silence the majority of Ohioans, and subject us to the policy preferences of a small group of extremists who have secured the favor of our unconstitutionally gerrymandered legislature,” the ACLU said of the measure in a statement earlier this year.
“Just look at how Issue 1 supporters are framing their argument. They deem their effort the ‘Protect Ohio’s Constitution’ campaign. In fairness, they are desperately attempting to protect our Constitution,” the group added. “The key question is, from whom are they protecting our Constitution? The answer is – a majority of Ohioans.”
Mehek Cooke, an Ohio attorney and Republican political consultant, told Fox News Digital that message from the far-left ACLU is “deceitful.”
“They’re lying to Ohio voters when they say that we are taking their vote away,” said Cooke, who said the true objective is to prevent outside groups from negatively influencing the state. “We’re actually empowering Ohioans.”
“The Constitution is truly for the structure of government and then fundamental rights, not policies. I believe that’s the place for the legislature. So I feel very strongly as a mom, but also a business owner and an attorney that we need to protect a strict analysis of our constitution and not allow these outside groups to dictate what works in Ohio,” she added.
