ALL ABOUT OHIO’S ISSUE 1 IN AUGUST

Thank you to those of us that were able to join yesterday’s June Fair Districts Huddle and a special thank you to veteran political journalist, Howard Wilkinson for sharing his thoughts on the upcoming August Special Election. Check out the slides and recording.

Howard Wilkinson got real about why he calls the August 8 Special Election a “sham,” and here he explains why he’s been sounding like such a cranky old man. There are so many ways to pitch in against this threat to addressing gerrymandering.  Please review the action steps on how you can help for the August election and reach out if you have questions.

Take Action Today – Help tell Ohioans to “Vote No on August 8th”

• Sign up or endorse at  http://votenoinaugust.org/
• Order fliers & pledge cards here
• One-Pager Version 1
• One-Pager Version 2
• Letter to the Editor Toolkit
• LTE Training
• Ohioans Weigh in on August Special Election, email Kelly at kdufour@commoncause.org if you’d like to send a photo and one-sentence quote to share about why you are voting no in August.
• “Mine + Nine” take responsibility for nine other voters by sharing why it’s so important to vote no in August and make sure they get to the polls to vote.
• Order One Person One Vote Lit for canvassing here

Update on August 8 Lawsuits:

• HB458 abolished August Special Elections

The Legal Challenge about the Ballot Language:

• Court opinion
• Toledo Blade Editorial, Issue 1 Ballot Fix

Interview with Howard Wilkinson, hwilkinson@wvxu.org:

• Frequent Guest on Cincinnati Edition
• Weekly Politics Segment, Politically Speaking
• I know I’ve sounded like a cranky old man here lately. Here’s why, June 1st
• Finally, Frank LaRose confirms what we 100% already knew, June 7th 

The Impact of a 60% Threshold:

• Issue 1 boiled down to one question: “Should the voters rule Ohio — or should a gerrymandered General Assembly call all the shots?” Should a minority of voters block the will of the people?
• 51 amendments were approved with only a simple majority including: Bonds for environmental conservation, low-income housing, development and public building upgrades, The elimination of straight-ticket voting, Term limits for governor, Prohibiting groups from using the Ohio Constitution to create a monopoly for their financial benefit, and Raising the minimum wage

Today Dozens of Business Leaders Urged Ohioans to Vote NO:

• Press release:  25 Ohio Business Leaders Stand Up for Democracy, Condemn Ohio’s Issue 1, Leadership Now Project  
• Open letter:  Preserving Ohio’s Democracy  by Opposing Issue 1 
• More than two dozen business leaders have signed on to an effort to defeat Issue 1, @joingles on Twitter 

Useful Links:

• Vote No In August
• Order materials
• Editorials and columns about the August Special Election
• All about Issue 1 in August
• 2022 Adopted General Assembly & Congressional maps
• Get in touch: fairdistrictsohio2021@gmail.com
•  Redistricting Timeline (bit.ly/RedistrictingTimeline)
• Visit us: fairdistrictsohio.org
• Next Fair Districts Huddle, July 12 at 6pm 

Elevator pitches

JF Bird: “4 former governors & 5 former attorneys general —both Republicans & Democrats—say this is very bad law & should go down. That should be telling us something.  Very important to vote NO in August & YES in November.  Early voting starts July 11.”

Cheryl Grossman: “If we are short 1 signature in 1 of 88 counties it could kill a whole initiative. 1 county.” and “If Issue 1 passes on August 8, just one missing signature in one county could keep a popular issue off the ballot.”

Andrew Green: “As it stands today, a constitutional amendment is the only thing that citizens can pass that doesn’t have the threat of being immediately overturned with a simple majority vote of the legislature. There is a reason that only 3 initiated statues have passed in 110+ years. It’s a lot of work to get to the ballot and get it passed only to have the threat of being overturned immediately.”

Laura Moorman: “It’s a special election for special interests.”

Aliza Weidenbaum: “NO in August means YES for Democracy!”, “If Issue 1 passes 60% will be deciding for 40% of the voters in Ohio.” and “Issue 1 will discourage future voters, and votes, on all issues.”

Greg Duncan: “Ohio’s Secretary of State has cut through the speculation and flat out said that this election is all about stopping a referendum on a woman’s right to abortion.  Republicans are so afraid that, if put to a vote by Ohioans, the people would vote the same way as people in other states who have had the opportunity to declare their choice.  Just as with gerrymandering, the only way Republicans can get their way is to take the vote away from the people and claim that they (the elected Republicans) are in their jobs because the people want to be represented by them and that they are thus empowered to vote for them. It is undemocratic, and it is a slap in the face of every Ohioan that basically says we do not have the sense to vote for our own good.”

Janice Urbanik: “Issue 1 would enshrine minority rule – and that’s just wrong.”

Mark Hennessey: “Issue 1 attacks majority rule democracy – the power to make laws when politicians fail us. Please don’t commit political suicide. Vote NO on Issue 1.”

Trevor Martin: “Are you willing to hand over your power as a voter to corrupt politicians? No? No. Vote No in August. No.”

Thank you!