Stewart, LaRose Announce the Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment
COLUMBUS – State Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose today announced the Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment to better protect and uphold the Ohio constitution.
The amendment seeks to alter the process of how constitutional amendments can be proposed by initiative petitions. Currently, issues proposed by initiative petitions need to meet a 50% voting threshold to amend the constitution. Under this new proposal, these issues would need to meet a 60% threshold.
The United States Constitution requires that constitutional amendments receive a supermajority vote. In addition, both red and blue states have already established supermajorities for constitutional amendments – Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Nebraska, Mississippi, Wyoming, and Florida.
“Our Founding Fathers ensured that the United States Constitution would be protected against outside influence and special interests by requiring a supermajority vote for amendments,” Stewart said. “It’s time to protect the Ohio Constitution in a similar way.”