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

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Michele Grim (D-Toledo) 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.

“Senate Joint Resolution 2 is the ultimate representation of what happens when an extremist, out-of-touch, gerrymandered supermajority realizes that the majority of Ohioans do not agree with them on a certain issue. Despite their insistence that this measure will ‘protect the Constitution,’ the resolution’s sponsors and proponents have made clear that this is about one issue: abortion. Rather than respecting our citizens’ will on the ballot in November, the Ohio Republicans decided to strip away a 110-year-old right. This action brings Ohio one step closer to ensuring that out-of-state special interests with millions of dollars to spare will be the only ones capable of utilizing the citizen-led initiative,” said Rep Grim.

“S.J.R. 2 undermines the sacred principle in this state of one-person, one-vote, allowing a small minority of voters the ability to block initiatives favored by the majority. Passing this resolution is a blatant attack on Ohio’s democracy and the engrained rights of Ohioans to govern themselves.”

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.