There are three issues appearing on the ballot in 2015, two of which were referred by the legislature and one of which appears via citizen initiative. Legislatively referred constitutional amendments can head to Ohio voters if 60% of both chambers approve the measure, as was the case for this year’s Issues 1 & 2. As one of 23 states that permits citizen initiated constitutional amendments, Ohio voters have possessed the ability to govern via direct democracy for over 100 years. In order for a citizen initiated constitutional amendment to be approved for the ballot, petitioners must submit signatures equal to 10% of the votes cast for Governor in the most recent election. In the case of this year’s Issue 3, the petitioners were required to collect 305,591 valid signatures to make it on to the November ballot.

In 1912, a state constitutional convention was held to update a document that Ohioans felt was generally outdated and did not reflect the modern times they lived in. On September 12th of that year, the Ohio Constitution was amended to permit Ohio residents to initiate amendments to the Ohio Constitution. The first citizen initiated constitutional amendment appeared on the ballot in 1913. The amendment proposed the reduction in the size of the legislature and its passage failed. Since 1913, there have been 67 citizen initiated ballot measures. 19 of those measures have been approved while 48 have been rejected (a 39.5 % success rate).

In the same time period of 1913 to present, legislatively referred constitutional amendments occurred more often and had a greater success rate compared to citizen initiated constitutional amendments. Ohioans have voted on 151 legislatively referred constitutional amendments that saw a passage rate of 102-49 (66%).

The Ohio Chamber has committed substantial resources to support the positions that we have taken on all three issues appearing on the ballot in November. We will be working actively to educate our membership on Issues 1, 2,and 3 and to execute a comprehensive grassroots campaign to educate our 8,000 members on each proposal.

My twitter handle @probizpolitics provides news and information on the upcoming election in 2016 and all things Ohio politics. Please consider taking a look.