2023 Ohio Constitution referendum

	August 8, 2023
60% Vote Requirement to Approve Constitutional Amendments[lower-alpha 1]

A special election will be held in the U.S. state of Ohio on August 8, 2023.[2] The election will hold a referendum on a legislatively-referred amendment to the Ohio Constitution. If approved by voters, the amendment would raise the requirement to amend the Ohio Constitution from a simple majority to 60%, or a supermajority.[3] Attention has been drawn to impact of the amendment on a potential future abortion referendum in the state of Ohio.[4]

Background

The amendment is supported by the Republican Party of Ohio and opposed by the Democratic Party of Ohio, with the former claiming that the amendment is necessary to prevent advocacy groups from lobbying their interests into the state constitution, and the latter arguing that the amendment is undemocratic and would result in minority rule.[3] Former Republican governors of Ohio John Kasich and Bob Taft have expressed opposition to the amendment, while incumbent Republican governor Mike DeWine supports it.[5]

The decision to hold the election in August as opposed to November has been criticized as an attempt to help the amendment's passage with low voter turnout.[4]

Similar amendments to require supermajority support for state constitutional amendments have failed in various states, most recently in Arkansas in 2022[6].

References

Proponents of the measure have referred to it as the "Constitution Protection Amendment".[1]

"Save Our Constitution". Save Our Constitution PAC. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. [...] to stop it by voting to put the Constitution Protection Amendment on the August ballot.
S.J.R. 2 Ohio General Assembly.
"Ohio 60% Vote Requirement to Approve Constitutional Amendments Measure (2023)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
Smyth, Julie; Hendrickson, Samantha (May 10, 2023). "Ohio Constitution question aimed at thwarting abortion rights push heads to August ballot". AP News. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
BeMiller, Haley (April 25, 2023). "Ex-Ohio GOP Govs. John Kasich, Bob Taft blast plan to make it harder to amend constitution". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
"Arkansas Issue 2 Election Results: Require Supermajority Vote for Ballot Measures". The New York Times. November 8, 2022. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 12, 2023.

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[2] Proponents of the measure have referred to it as the "Constitution Protection Amendment".[1]

[1] "Save Our Constitution". Save Our Constitution PAC. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. [...] to stop it by voting to put the Constitution Protection Amendment on the August ballot.

[SJR2-3] S.J.R. 2 Ohio General Assembly.

[Ballotpedia-4] "Ohio 60% Vote Requirement to Approve Constitutional Amendments Measure (2023)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved May 10, 2023.

[AP1-5] Smyth, Julie; Hendrickson, Samantha (May 10, 2023). "Ohio Constitution question aimed at thwarting abortion rights push heads to August ballot". AP News. Retrieved May 10, 2023.

[6] BeMiller, Haley (April 25, 2023). "Ex-Ohio GOP Govs. John Kasich, Bob Taft blast plan to make it harder to amend constitution". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved May 10, 2023.

[7] "Arkansas Issue 2 Election Results: Require Supermajority Vote for Ballot Measures". The New York Times. November 8, 2022. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 12, 2023.