America was founded on an idea – that all people had the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – and if that right was to flourish, it must be grounded in democracy – in the basic right of all to choose their own leaders, to vote and have their votes counted. It was a revolutionary idea at the time and remains so today. Yet today, across America – and in the past across American history, the right to vote is and has always been contested.
In Ohio today, voters will vote on Issue 1, a ballot initiative invented by Republicans in the state legislature to make it harder and more expensive for voters to pass ballot initiatives in the future. It would double the number of counties needed for signatures to get an initiative on the ballot – and it would require approval of 60 percent of the public for an initiative to pass, instead of the simple majority required now.
The goal – publicly admitted by the initiators – is to try to block the Reproductive Freedom Amendment, which will be on the ballot in November. It will also make it harder to pass an initiative raising the minimum wage that young people are trying to get on the ballot.
Ohio is a perfect example of how democracy can be suppressed. Having gained majorities in the state legislature, Republicans drew gerrymandered political districts to entrench their majorities. They packed the courts with partisan jurists. That left the ballot initiative as one of the only ways meaningful changes supported by a majority of voters can be achieved. Now Republican legislators want to make that process less accessible, scheduling the election in August when turnout is historically abysmally low. From Arizona to Florida, other Republican-dominated states are doing the same; while passing a range of measures to make it harder for college students, poor people, African Americans, and offenders who have served their time to vote. After voters in Florida passed a ballot initiative empowering former offenders to vote, Republican legislators passed measures to gut the reform.
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