Geauga GOP Endorses Yes on Issue 1
On July 19, 2023, the Geauga County Republican Central & Executive Committees voted unanimously to endorse YES on Issue 1 for the Aug. 8, 2023, special election. This is a critical priority for our party and for the business, agriculture and pro-life communities.
In endorsing Yes on Issue 1, we joined alongside the Ohio Republican Party, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Buckeye Firearms, the Ohio Right to Life and the Ohio Farm Bureau to protect our state constitution from outside special interests.
This is not a partisan issue. Ohio Democrats introduced this same resolution in 2018 because most Ohioans understand the importance of protecting our rights.
We often complain about the speed of government, but our Founding Fathers understood that creating public policy is not one of impulse. This is why it takes a supermajority vote in Congress or a 75% ratification of states to amend the U.S. Constitution. Issue 1 follows this philosophy in requiring any new changes to Ohio’s Constitution to pass with a 60% majority, a threshold that is still well below what is required federally.
In addition, 32 states do not even allow amendments to their constitutions from citizen-initiatives. Only 18 states allow initiated constitutional amendments, and two of those do not allow direct initiatives – they must go to the legislature. Illinois, New York, Colorado, Arizona, and Florida all require a minimum of 55-60% to change their constitutions.
The stability of our state is at stake. Big money groups will throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. Bail reform, congressional redistricting, full-term abortions, transgender hormone therapy consent — there are plans in the works to try them all.
Our state constitution is not a playground for liberal interests from California, Illinois or New York. It is a document to be protected, to be carefully considered and to be safeguarded from standing social issues of the time.
Please join me in standing with law enforcement and the Second Amendment, and the business, farm and pro-life communities to vote YES on Issue 1.
Kevin O’Reilly
Vice Chairman
Geauga County Republican Party
Don’t Let Them Steal Your Right
Aug. 8 will be one of the most important voting days in Ohio history. The lobbyist-addicted legislature in Columbus has decided that it is not to their advantage to allow the citizens of Ohio to make important changes to our state constitution by a simple majority of 50% + 1 as it has been for over 100 years.
They have also put other devious and difficult road blocks into this bill to make sure that the voices of everyday Ohioans will not be heard ever again.
These bought politicians that start out campaigning with all kinds of promises to serve the constituents wishes quickly become addicted to the lobbyist’s perks, favors, dark money piles of cash and, yes, even outright bribes. There has always been this type of two-faced politics no matter where politicians practice, but never to the level that Ohio has raised it in recent years.
The completely crooked and illegal HB 6 that Columbus still hasn’t negated fully, and we are still paying our hard earned dollars for the complete and total ignoring of the decisions of the Ohio Supreme Court with redistricting.
This new plan to stifle the voices of Ohioans through this Aug. 8 vote and many other non-voter supported actions leave us, the majority of Ohio voters, without a voice needs to be stopped in its tracks. If you care about having a voice in your everyday life as a resident of Ohio vote NO on Aug. 8.
Robert Johnson Jr.
Burton
Yes on Issue 1
Vote YES on Issue 1 to save true majority rule and protect our freedoms.
YES on Issue 1 will require a 60% majority vote in order to amend the Ohio Constitution. The U.S. Constitution is the greatest freedom document in history and requires greater than a 60% majority to be amended.
Article Four, Section 1, of the constitution of the Ohio Democratic Party states, “This constitution may be amended by sixty (60%) percent of all delegates to any convention.”
Voting YES prevents the populated urban areas like Cuyahoga County, Franklin County, Hamilton County, etc., from ruining our Geauga County way of life by requiring a true majority. There are other ways to create laws by a single vote, but the constitution is a sacred document and will be protected by a YES vote on Issue 1.
If a law does not receive a 60% vote, then it is obviously not sufficiently beneficial to the true majority of society and only caters to fringe political interests. The last thing our society needs are laws supported by a mere statistical majority vote.
On Nov. 3, 2022, Ohio had 8,029,950 registered voters with 4,201,368 voting for a 52.32% voter turnout percentage. Based on those numbers, the current Ohio Constitution would allow one person out of four million to decide the vote as opposed to the 60% threshold that would require 420,136 voters to decide the approval.
A good law should easily receive a true majority 60% approval or it should not be a constitutional amendment. If you do not believe this, please do your own research. Opponents have no interest in good government, only promotion of fringe political special interests. Those special interests know they can only pass questionable laws by that slim 50% plus one vote which are a mere statistical majority but not a true majority.
Imagine the Cleveland Cavaliers beating the Golden State Warriors by one point on a last second shot. Would you say that Golden State was the better team, no you would not. That one player making one shot decided the game. You would say, ‘it could have gone either way;’ that is no way to create a law.
Now imagine the Cleveland Browns are playing the Minnesota Vikings in the Super Bowl. The final score is Browns 42, Vikings 28, with the Browns scoring 60% of all points in the game. You are not going to say ‘it could have gone either way,’ you would say that the Browns were the better team.
Vote YES on Issue 1 to protect our freedoms, to protect our Geauga County way of life, to protect true majority rule, and so new laws are the decisive will of society.
Tim Snyder
Burton
Major Changes Need Broad Support
If Issue 1 passes you will not lose your right to vote. Amendments to the Ohio Constitution will still be allowed. The only difference is that it will take a larger majority of Ohioans to pass it.
Planned Parenthood, The Teacher’s Union, the League of Women Voters, the ACLU, and the Democratic Party require a 60% threshold to pass amendments to their constitution. Why is that? The answer is a major change needs broad support.
The amendment that will be on the November ballot is purposely vague. There is no limit on when an abortion can take place. There is no age specified on the person seeking an abortion. The provision about privacy for reproduction will keep parents out of decisions about pregnancy, abortion or gender re-assignment their children may be contemplating. The wording of the amendment cannot be changed once passed. Such a change should take more than a 50% plus one to pass.
For these reasons, I am voting YES on Issue 1.
Elsie Tarczy
South Russell Village
‘We the People,’ Vote No on Issue 1
I just saw an ad on TV telling us to vote for Issue 1 on Aug. 8. Why? To keep those big, bad out-of-state special interests from teaching our school children about bad ideas like LGBTQ, trans, etc.
Issue 1 has nothing to do with LGBTQ, trans, etc., but the ad implies that a NO vote will allow such controversial topics to be taught in our schools.
Our General Assembly, which has been under Republican control for many years, is really the willing recipient of big bucks from out-of-state interests. Who? There is one filthy rich billionaire from Illinois who has donated over $1,000,000 to get this amendment on the August ballot.
If Issue 1 passes, a minority of voters (40%+1) will then overrule the majority (59%). And there goes government by majority vote — by the people, for the people. Ohio will no longer be a functional democracy when a minority decides how the majority of Ohioans must live.
Meanwhile, the politicians in our statehouse will still be able to pass amendments with a 51-49% majority vote. It’s OK for them, but not for us? No way!
To keep majority rule for “we the people,” vote NO on Issue 1 on Aug. 8.
Rosemary Balazs
Chester Township
