Extremist Politicians Seek to Silence the Voice of the People with Passage of Undemocratic SJR 2

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Ismail Mohamed (D-Columbus) denounces the passage of SJR 2 by the Ohio House of Representatives. House Democrats stood with the people and unanimously voted against the undemocratic, unfair, and unpopular resolution that will shred Ohio’s Constitution. 

“The efforts of the majority was another blatant display of disrespect to the people of Ohio. Instead of trusting the voters, the majority party chose to support an effort that sells our constitution to the highest bidder,” said Rep. Mohamed. “We’ve trusted Ohioans for over 110 years to empower themselves with the ballot initiative process and will continue to trust them heading into August.”

The constitutional restriction would destroy more than 111 years of direct democracy that Ohioans have used to achieve their goals when unresponsive politicians would not listen. If passed, Ohioans would lose their freedom to determine the future of the state as 40% of voters could block initiatives the majority of Ohioans want. The resolution’s supermajority vote requirement for future constitutional amendments would tilt the scales of democracy away from voters and toward well-funded, out-of-state, dark-monied special interests.