


The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a ballot question at the center of the state's abortion debate must be rewritten.
The question itself doesn't mention abortion but will decide a provision that could prove decisive in the state's battle over abortion access, the Hill reported. In August, voters will vote on a constitutional amendment, titled “Elevating the Standards to Qualify For and to Pass Any Constitutional Amendment.” The amendment would require 60% of voters to approve all further amendments instead of the current simple majority required.
CONGRESS CAN DO MORE TO PREVENT MEGAFIRES
The proposed amendment comes amid an effort by Democrats to propose an amendment that would enshrine abortion access into the state's constitution in November. The August amendment would make the November amendment much harder to pass.
In addition to requiring 60% of voters to approve, it would also require a number of other measures to have amendments introduced. The Democratic law firm Elias Law Group filed a lawsuit to have the amendment reworded entirely. The court ruled 4-3 in favor of rewording some aspects, and others were unchanged, including several key points that the group wanted to be reworded.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The court agreed with the group that the question "overstates the number of signatures that would be needed to qualify an initiative petition for the ballot," but it did not agree that the question must fully inform voters about the current law.
“Contrary to [plaintiffs] suggestion, we have never held that ballot language must inform voters about current law,” the court ruled.